Adjusting
by dead last hero
Summary: One target. One shot. Don't miss. RoxasxSora. Alternate title: 'Riku's Pretend Lovelife'.
1. Lavalamp

A/N: The lack of good Roxas x Sora makes me cry at night.

This fic is set after the events of KHII, in which the characters were gifted with bodies and hearts in hopes of them becoming productive members of society. In this fic, Roxas and Sora are NOT brothers and they are NOT the same person.

If you want to know the other pairings that occur, feel free to PM me, as I know some people hate not knowing. Personally, I think the suspense makes it all the more enjoyable.

I urge you to try this fic, even if just for 'Riku's Pretend Lovelife'. Pure Amusement.

* * *

There was a knock at Roxas' bedroom door, and it was abruptly pushed open. He jumped only a little.

"Just me," Sora said, sticking his head in first before coming all the way inside the door. "No need to panic."

"I wasn't panicking," Roxas replied, not moving from where he was sitting, in the middle of his bed. _I'm just adjusting._

Sora closed his door quietly, and Roxas saw he was holding something behind his back. Not very sneaky, his other. The chord to whatever it was could be clearly seen dragging on the floor behind him as he walked further into the blonde's room.

"What do you have?" Roxas asked, suspiciously.

"A present," Sora replied, coming closer. It made Roxas shift uncomfortably for a second.

"Why? Its not my birthday or Christmas or uh…whenever else you get presents," Roxas pointed out, still wary. He'd never celebrated any holidays so he didn't really know.

Sora sat down on his bed next to him, almost causing him to topple. "Hanukkah, if you're Jewish. But we aren't." Sora nodded like he had only just decided this. "Anyway, Tadaa!" Sora produced something that was yellow and red and looked like a rocket ship.

Roxas lifted an eyebrow. "What is it?" he asked. It looked like there was liquid inside, and a giant glob of wax in the bottom.

"It's a lava lamp!" Sora exclaimed, setting it on Roxas' desk. "I thought, since you said you had a lot of glowy stuff in your room before-" he stuck his hand down behind Roxas' bed and groped around for the outlet. "-that you'd like this." He seemed to have got the plug in because he jumped up and turned the lights off.

Roxas didn't move from his spot on the bed. He smiled a little in the dark. Sora was pretty thoughtful. When Roxas had come back with him to the island, he'd had nothing but the clothes on his back. Yet Sora had been completely generous and willing to share everything he had with Roxas. One look around Roxas' room and you'd think he was horribly boring, nothing on the walls, no mess, not a whole lot of clothes in the drawers. He didn't mind, though. He was getting there.

"Okay, now watch how cool it is," Sora said, sitting back down on the bed. He reached over and pulled Roxas' arm to get him to come closer to the strange little rocket ship. Roxas waited patiently, and Sora finally clicked the power on.

The yellowish light from the lamp immediately splashed over both their faces, but as for the most part, it just sat there. Sora stared intently at it, and Roxas began to wonder if there was maybe something he wasn't seeing.

"Um…does it do anything?" Roxas asked, for some reason feeling the need to whisper.

"Of course," Sora insisted, not taking his eyes off it.

Roxas waited another second. Sora wasn't crazy…right? He looked at the lamp. It really was just sitting there.

"It doesn't really look like it does anything Sora," Roxas said, moving to get up and turn the light back on. Sora caught his arm and pulled him back down onto the bed.

"Its just warming up," he informed Roxas. Any minute now, really.

"Sora, you realize you sound like a nutcase?" Roxas sighed.

Sora wrapped his arm around Roxas' neck and pulled him into a headlock. "Shut up, you're killing the moment."

"Ack! Let go!" Roxas protested, struggling. What moment?!

"Look! There it goes!" Sora said, suddenly, letting go of Roxas so he could see.

Roxas watched a red blob detach itself from the bottom of the lamp, and slowly rise to the top, before falling down again. He emphasized the_slowly_.

"That's it?" he asked, after a second blob had made the round trip.

"What do you mean 'that's it?'" Sora cried, indignant. "Its COOL!"

Sora pouted in Roxas' general direction, and Roxas couldn't help but feel bad. Sora's face was too cute in the funky yellow light, and he'd been thoughtful to bring him something for his barren room.

"Uh, of course its cool. I mean. Yeah, just look at it," Roxas said, trying his best not to be totally lame. He half-smiled at his other. "Thanks, Sora."

Sora perked up immediately. He tackled Roxas onto the bed in a hug. "You're welcome!" he said, before climbing off his bed and heading out of his room, not bothering to turn the light back on.

Roxas stayed lying down on his bed where Sora had tackled him, nothing but the strange yellow light illuminating his room. He reached up and touched his cheek a moment later, noting that it was warm. A little like the rest of his body felt from the sudden contact with Sora's.

The point was less that he felt warm, and more that he felt at all.

Roxas shook his head a little. _I'm just adjusting._

* * *

"Hey! Hey!" Axel called from across the street. Roxas finally spotted his flaming red hair and looked for cars before darting across.

"You are painfully easy to spot in a crowd of normal people," Roxas pointed out.

Axel sort of ruffled his hair. "Yeah, should I have gotten a less amazing hair color?" He said, running his fingers through his ridiculous two-toned spikes.

Roxas sort of laughed. "Less obnoxious, maybe." He dodged a punch to the arm and took off towards the ice cream stand.

Roxas spotted another blonde waiting in front of the small vendor, and allowed her a short hug before getting in line for everyone's favorite treat.

"Its good to see you," Namine said with a bright smile. Roxas nodded in agreement. She was a little quiet, but Roxas still had a soft spot for her somewhere inside. Some kind of protective brotherly instinct that he'd never experienced before. Just one on a long list of sensations he was getting used to.

"I'm paying," Axel said, laying his arm lightly across Roxas' shoulders.

"What's the occasion for this date, huh?" Roxas asked, taking a step forward with the line, sliding out from under Axel's arm. He was always flirting like that, Roxas had gotten used to it.

"I got a job!" Axel announced, quite obviously proud of himself. It was a huge step towards normalness and settling down in society, after all. Roxas and Namine would have their first day of school soon, too.

"Have you gotten paid yet?" Namine asked suspiciously.

Axel rubbed the back of his head and sort of laughed. "I did JUST start yesterday…"

"I'll pay for it," Roxas said, rolling his eyes. "Sora's Mom gave me some money." She was a really sweet woman. Roxas couldn't really refer to her as mother, though. It seemed too strange.

The three got their ice cream and headed out towards the boardwalk. Namine stayed close to Roxas, he could tell she was adjusting, too. Still getting used to being around so many people. Axel linked his arm with Roxas' free arm, and Roxas paid no mind at all, reclaiming his arm from Axel's grip as they neared the end of the dock.

The three former nobodies sat down on a bench at the end of the walk. Namine licked her ice cream thoughtfully and carefully, keeping her knees together like a proper lady, and angling them so they rested against Roxas' sitting next to her. Axel devoured his ice cream in a matter of seconds, and placed his arm up on the back of the bench, occasionally brushing his hand against Roxas' shoulder.

There they sat, in front of the ocean. It was comfortable, just the three of them, even in silence. Each of them on their own had felt like complete strangers in this world, but being together for a little while was refreshing.

"Where did you get a job at?" Roxas asked, after a long moment of silence. "Are you gonna get us free stuff?"

"If you need a new carburetor," Axel said, leaning forward towards Roxas' face. "I think I can hook you up," he suggestively bit down on Roxas' ice cream.

"Hey!" Roxas said, as Namine giggled a little. Roxas pouted and turned to keep his ice cream to himself. "I don't even know what a carb-rater is."

"Carburetor," Namine corrected. "That goes in a car, right? So you work on cars?"

Axel nodded. "Riku's uncle owns a place, he got me a job there. Its cool so far," he shrugged a little. Roxas wondered how he'd take the responsibility, usually being so laid back and just doing this and that. He wondered how Axel was doing, living by himself, being normal. Roxas bet he hated doing all his own dishes.

"How is Sora's house?" Axel interjected into Roxas' thoughts, giving him a little nudge. Roxas pulled the last bit of ice cream off the stick as he thought about it. "Sora's Mom is really great. She makes really good food and she's treated me like her son from the day we met. I have my own room so, its cool. " Roxas sort of left it like that because honestly, as for living with Sora specifically, he was at a loss for words. It would require a lot more thought than that. "He got me a lava lamp, since there's not much stuff in my room," he remembered and added.

Axel's hand squeezed his shoulder lightly before Roxas stood up and stretched. "You and me should go get some stuff for your room, and my apartment." Axel suggested. Roxas nodded. Exploring the local mall and shops with Axel would be great. He'd need Roxas there to pick out some good stuff for him, anyway. Roxas had seen his room in Castle Oblivion. Not exactly feng shui.

Namine licked her ice cream. "What's a lava lamp?" she asked, a curious look on her face.

Roxas smiled, thinking of Sora's excited face bathed in the strange glow of the yellow and red rocket. "I'll show you later."

* * *

"Don't get me wet!" Kairi complained just a little, as Sora and Riku chased each other around the shallows. She was still wearing her uniform from working at that clothing store in the mall Sora could never, ever remember the name of.

"Riku's fault!" Sora called out, as they got into a pickle around Kairi, Sora making to dart left and Riku mimicking his actions, as if he were dead either way he chose.

"You guys!" Kairi said, trying to keep her khaki pants from getting soaked.

"Sorry, sorry," Riku said, grabbing her around the middle and hauling her away from the water. She laughed and struggled just a little until Riku set her down on the sand again. Sora ran up panting, sand and saltwater covering his legs. "I found a sand dollar!" he announced, presenting it to them.

"Great Sora, then you can buy us lunch," Riku said, pulling him into a head lock and attempting to furiously destroy his hair.

Sora squirmed as Kairi laughed. "I promised Namine I'd teach her to bake cookies, so no lunch plans for me," she informed them.

"Yeah?" Sora said, finally pulling his head out from under Riku's arm. "Does she like it at your place?"

"I think so," Kairi said, "We do a lot of stuff together, and she's excited for school to start."

"I'm not excited for school to start," Riku replied flatly.

Sora punched him in the shoulder. "You're not excited for girls to throw themselves at you?" he asked. To demonstrate he threw his arms around Riku and bat his eyes at him.

"Nope," Riku replied, shoving Sora off playfully. "Can I get some repellant somewhere?" He joked.

Sora gave him a push, and Riku pushed back, almost causing him to topple over. "What about you, Sora?" Riku asked pointedly.

"Drop me off at home?" Sora asked, smiling his 'pleaaaaaase?' smile that no one could really resist.

Riku rolled his eyes. "How could you leave your best friend to eat lunch by himself?"

"I'll make it up to you tomorrow," Sora promised. "Today is the day I introduce Roxas to videogames."

Riku nodded, pulling Sora into another headlock and dragging him towards the car. "Fine. I couldn't deprive Roxas of that just for your company." Riku reluctantly had to let go to dig his keys out.

"I think he's nervous to go to school, but I know its gonna be awesome," Sora said. Roxas would get a little jumpy once in a while, but Sora was patient with him. He couldn't imagine how it was experiencing feelings for the first time. Sora slid into Riku's car after wiping as much sand off on the grass as he could manage.

"Roxas likes living with you, Sora?" Kairi asked from the backseat.

"Even though you make such a huge mess everywhere?" Riku added, smirking.

Sora looked out the window and watched the beach disappear downhill as they climbed into the residential areas. "I got him a lava lamp," he said absently, remembering the smile on Roxas' face when he'd thanked Sora for the decoration. Sora had been absolutely thrilled. He grinned now, just thinking about it. "I think he liked it."

* * *

Riku's Pretend Lovelife begins in chapter two: "Master Plan." 


	2. Master Plan

Roxas sat at the breakfast table, his eyes half open. There were a lot of things he'd learned about Sora just by living with him, that he never would have known otherwise. Like that fact that he simply did NOT get up in the morning. Even if the morning was ten or eleven.

Roxas drank the remaining milk from his cereal bowl as Sora's Mom came into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and took out a yogurt, sitting down at the table. "If you're finished, then would you go wake up Sora please?" she asked, polite as ever.

"Sure," Roxas replied, getting up from the table and shuffling up the stairs. He'd only had to wake up Sora a few times before, and it wasn't exactly easy. He was skeptical as to whether he'd even be able to do it so early in the morning. But it was the first day of school and not only did Sora need to go, but Roxas was going to need him there.

Roxas pushed open the door to Sora's room, careful not to step on any of his clothes that he felt the need to throw all over the floor. Roxas never understood this concept. He stood over Sora's sleeping form and rubbed one of his eyes. "Sora, get up."

Sora didn't move so much as a finger, his body splayed out on his bed awkwardly. Sora's legs jutted out from his blankets, and one arm was draped across the bed. He was lying face down, and Roxas really wondered how he could breathe with his face buried in the pillow like that. Though judging by his snoring, he apparently could.

Roxas sat down on Sora's bed and he didn't stir. Roxas pulled Sora's blanket off, hoping the sudden chill would wake him, but he didn't move at all. The gentle curve of his back was exposed as his shirt had ridden up to his chest sometime in the night. Roxas cocked his head to the side a little and ran his hand down Sora's spine, the skin soft under his fingertips. He drew his hand away quickly at Sora's unexpected sigh, though his Other made no move to rise.

Roxas briefly considered climbing back in bed and going to sleep, and Sora's bed looked particularly inviting right about now. Sora was warm and Roxas' fingers found themselves on his back again, walking one over the other up to where his shirt was bunched up.

Sora woke at the tickling sensation and rolled over with a small whine, as Roxas shoved his hands between his knees rather, what? Nervously, he decided, as if they had been there all along. Sora sat up and looked directly at him, just staring for a moment.

"What?" Roxas asked, scooting away from him. It was okay to sit on Sora's bed, wasn't it? It was totally normal.

"You okay? I mean, you feel okay?" he asked, looking as concerned as a person that just woke up really could look.

"I'm fine," Roxas replied, standing up. "Get up already. You're so freaking slow," he commented, leaving Sora's room.

Sora scratched his mess of hair. Maybe he was still dreaming. He swore Roxas' face was red.

Roxas stopped by the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror. He touched his face. Maybe he should ask Sora about what causes a person's face to heat up like this. Since, it seemed to happen mostly just around him.

* * *

SCHOOL. It made Riku frown. Mostly because teenagers were plainly put, just annoying. Especially that crowd of "non-conforming", rumor spreading, soul sucking, pubescent, drama lovers known as freshman. Being a senior this year, Riku hoped he could stay far away from the pit of sickness. Hey, he even had a free period. One which allowed him to hide on the roof. Maybe take a nap or damage his hearing via MP3 player.

"Good morning!" called his favorite redhead (cause lets face it, Axel just didn't do it for him) from across the courtyard. Riku stopped his forward progress towards homeroom and waited for Kairi and Namine to catch up to him. "Hey girls," he greeted, still not fully in his morning mood.

Kairi gave his arm a squeeze, showing her excitement for the first day of school. Namine only smiled at him shyly. She didn't know Riku all that well, but he had never really been anything but perfectly nice to her. She appreciated this, considering how rudely he treated innocent bystanders and people that didn't know their nose from their ass.

"How many confessions do you think you will you get today, Riku?" Kairi asked. "Sora and I made a bet." Kairi bet over three, and Sora bet under three.

"Is it normal for you to get a lot?" Namine asked. It was understandable, Riku was really attractive. His hair practically begged to be petted. Not only that, but he was aloof and came across as really cool and distant. Riku nodded at her knowingly.

"Last night I had a genius idea," Riku said, adjusting his backpack as he avoided the gaze of a group of oncoming girls.

"Oh?" Kairi said, curious. "What was tha---ah! Riku!" Riku's arm had secretly snaked around her waist and had just now pulled her up close to him.

"I decided that you were going on a date with me," he said, as if this were perfectly normal.

Kairi's cheeks flushed a little. "Don't be silly, Riku. What for?"

"For to get all the other girls off my back!" Riku explained. "If I schedule a date with every girl that I'm actually friends with once a week, I can be consistently labeled as 'attached' all the way until I graduate." He was so brilliant, he really didn't know how he could stand himself.

"Riku, that'll just make you look like a dirty hooker," Kairi pointed out, moving his arm up and around her shoulder. It was more comfortable to walk like that.

"I bathe regularly!" Riku protested the 'dirty' part. "Its not being a hooker, its 'exploring my options'. C'mon Kairi, you know you wanna."

"Um, what happens if you run out of girls?" Namine pointed out. She hadn't wanted to butt in on their conversation, but she didn't see Riku hanging out with a whole lot of girls. "How many do you even know?"

Riku thought about it for a minute. "Well there's Kairi and you-"

"Me?!" Namine squeaked. Her cheeks turned pink. Riku actually would?

"-yeah, and Selphie, Yuffie, Tifa-"

"Tifa is like, four years older than you. And she can punch through brick walls," Kairi pointed out. She guessed there was some sort of an appeal of older women, especially since Tifa usually wore leather.

Riku shrugged. "Aerith would do it, too. She's too nice-"

"You could probably get Olette to date you uh…long distance?" Namine offered.

"Oooo, cybersex. Good one, Namine," Riku said, nodding.

It took Kairi a second. "CyberWHAT?!"

"Joking," Riku said, holding his hands up. "How many does that give me?"

"Seven," Namine said. "So if you ask them out on Monday, date them on Friday, then repeat, but dump them before the second date, you've got 14 weeks covered. Eleven will be unaccounted for. Then what will you do?" It was sort of fun to scheme with them like this.

Riku paused in the hallway, in front of the locker he had been assigned. Kairi studied him, and it looked as if he were carefully considering something. He slowly turned the dial on his locker, while Kairi and Namine shared a sideways glance.

"Well?" Kairi asked, a little impatient.

"How many guy friends do I have?" he asked, looking at Namine pointedly. She seemed to be the number wizard right now. She turned red.

"REALLY?!" Kairi asked, trying to contain her shock. She didn't want to offend Riku in case he really, actually wanted to…swing that way.

"You're right," Riku said, popping his locker open. Ah, the emptiness of it. As it should be. Not like the girls with their stickers and mirrors and pictures and weird random crap they felt the need to hang up inside. Or Sora and his taplight. Whatever he saw in that thing, Riku would never know.

"Most of them probably wouldn't agree, it'd damage their reputation. Like Wakka, since he's captain of the blitz ball team. He has to remain untouchably manly." If not for that, Wakka probably wouldn't care in the least bit. He was friendly and always quick to help people out.

Riku looked over at Kairi who was paused in thought. He waited until she looked over with a grin.

"Tidus," they both said, in unison. Namine lifted her eyebrow.

"He's already gay," Riku explained. "I won't even have to turn him." Yes, Riku was confident in his ability to turn men gay with his sex appeal alone.

"Oh," Namine replied. A thought struck her. "Riku, you're not worried about your reputation?"

Riku closed his locker and shrugged. "The only reputation I have is being the hottest piece of unobtainable ass this school has ever seen." Kairi rolled her eyes at his arrogant tendencies. "Trust me, Namine. Its not just the ladies that want some." Yeah, you better believe Kairi and Sora didn't put any gender specifications on that confessions bet.

Riku absently turned the dial on his locker, watching Kairi show Namine how to open hers and describe its uses out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey, do you guys think Sora would-" he started to say, but was loudly interrupted by the same exact subject he had been thinking about.

"School is gayer than Tidus!" Sora exclaimed from directly behind him, causing him to jump a little.

"Geeze, Sora. Put a muffler on that thing," Riku said, covering his best friend's face with his hand and giving him a little push.

"No really!" Sora said, batting Riku's hand out of the way. "My locker is all the way in the 400 block! What the heck were they thinking?"

Kairi shrugged. "What about Roxas'?" she asked, noticing him standing there silently.

"Right next to mine. At least those jerks can do SOMETHING right," Sora complained, crossing his arms and doing his best to look irritated by it.

"Are you always gonna be this loud at school, Sora?" Roxas asked with a little sigh. The entire hall had to be staring at them. Maybe Roxas could sneak off and find his classroom by himself? Staring…the last thing he needed was to look like a weirdo on his first day of school.

"Everyday," Sora informed him, grabbing his arm. "And sometimes secretly at night." Roxas gave him a look that said _'You stay stupid stuff for no reason, don't you?'_

"Sora, no one wants to know what you secretly do at night," Riku said, playfully shoving the brunette out of the way. "Don't be late to class, you losers," he told them, before walking off in the direction of his homeroom. Kairi looked after him a little curiously, but forgot it a second later.

"Hey, I guess Riku has some plan to date every girl he knows and I have to be at the top of his hit list," Kairi explained. "So if anyone asks, he's "attached"." She wasn't sure what she thought of it yet. A date with Riku couldn't be all that bad. They went to movies and stuff together all the time.

Sora cocked his head to the side. "Okay?" He didn't quite get it, but why not? Kairi was about the best girl to pick, even though he wouldn't particularly want to date her. It'd be like dating his sister. Gross.

The warning bell suggested they get themselves to class, and the group of juniors hurried towards their homeroom.


	3. Two Point Five Feet Away

Roxas made it through school fine. History, Math, English, it didn't really bother him. He'd never really been in school before, so he didn't have eleven years of experience to whine about like everyone else. Sora seemed to have a good time introducing Roxas to every person he had ever known. Roxas learned something else about Sora on the first day of school; he was popular. Everyone liked Sora, some more than others even, and from what Roxas could tell, Sora basically liked everyone in return.

Roxas remembered about one or two of the people he was introduced to that day, and only if he could make a direct connection to them from someone he already knew. Selphie, for instance, was Kairi's friend. Roxas met her at lunch. She had cute flippy hair and a bubbly personality. Roxas thought she was probably an 'in small doses' type of girl.

Roxas also met Tidus and Wakka. Wakka had a funny accent, and unusual hair to match, he was easy to remember. Tidus was easy to remember as the only guy who had ever touched Roxas' ass before. Roxas' face had turned slightly red again and Sora had chased Tidus off down the hall.

"Don't send him any weird signals or his hands will be all over you," Sora warned. Sora was pretty comfortable with Tidus, used to his flirtatious manner. Roxas shrugged. "He reminds me of Axel," Roxas decided, being sort of forward and touchy feely like that.

"But Axel doesn't like-like you," Sora pointed out.

Yeah. Axel didn't like-like him. Right?

"Tidus might actually be interested," Sora warned him, opening the door to the locker room for them.

"How do I not send weird signals?" Roxas asked, just in case. Sora must know more about this than he did.

They both dropped their backpacks on the benches and went to get uniforms and locker numbers. "Stand at least two point five feet away, no touching unless its hitting or shoving, and no eye contact unless you're glaring," Sora shrugged. "And don't smile gayly," he added knowingly.

Roxas nodded, thinking carefully about it. So, then technically, doing all those things would be sending 'interested' signals? If so…Sora sure sent people a lot of signals. Roxas wondered why people never picked up on them. I mean, just look how close he stood? Roxas looked over at him, he'd barely have to shift to brush against him. And Sora looked directly at everyone he spoke to. Plus, he did random stuff like hug people and grab their arms.

Roxas must've been just staring at Sora because Sora looked at him confusedly for a second, before smiling brightly. "What?"

"Are you gay, Sora?" he blurted out. This could probably be classified as smiling gayly, couldn't it?

"WHAT?!" Sora exclaimed. The entire locker room stared at them. Sora's jaw had become momentarily disabled and was hanging open.

"Aha…I was just uh, kidding. You know?" Roxas said, throwing his arm over Sora's shoulders roughly and mussing his hair. He hadn't been, and in fact he was even more confused, but he shouldn't have said something like that in the middle of the boy's locker room.

Sora laughed too, and the locker room ignored them once again. Roxas noticed Sora's face was red.

Once they had their uniforms, Roxas and Sora retreated to where their assigned lockers were. Guys started throwing stuff off their bodies right and left, and shirts and pants went flying.

"Were you serious?" Sora asked quietly. Roxas looked over at him, and he was playing with the hem of his shirt, pointedly not looking at him, it seemed.

Roxas pulled his shirt off, feeling bad for saying something so dumb. "Sorry, Sora. I just misunderstood, I guess. I'm still adjusting to socializing, remember?"

Sora, of course, instantaneously forgave him. "Its okay, I don't mind," he smiled at Roxas before he started tearing his clothes off. It wasn't smiling gayly, Roxas decided. It was just Sora. His smiles were blindingly cute, if anything.

"I'm not, though," Sora added. Roxas nodded to acknowledge he understood. Sora was just friendly to everyone, that was all. "N-not that I mind!" Sora said suddenly, uniform shirt in his hand. He didn't want Roxas to think he was weirded out by it or anything.

"Its okay, Sora," Roxas assured him, chuckling. He reached over and patted Sora's bare shoulder without really thinking. Oops? Did that constitute as touching that wasn't hitting? Well, it was just Sora.

Roxas got dressed as Sora waited for him, and they headed out onto the track. Roxas learned another thing about Sora that period. He veered into people when he ran. Though mostly, he just veered into Roxas.

Sora learned something about Roxas that period, too. That his stomach looked particularly ticklish when not hidden by his shirt.

* * *

Sora yawned hugely as himself and Roxas made their way up the steps to their house. "How can you be tired?" Roxas asked, digging out the keys to open the door.

"Because!" Sora complained, following Roxas inside the house. "We ran a MILE in PE, then we had to WALK all the way home! Plus we got up so early."

"Yeah, and you usually sleep till noon," Roxas teased, dropping his backpack in the living room. Roxas padded up the stairs, and Sora walked off to the kitchen to drink a glass of water.

Sora swished the ice around in his glass for a minute. Roxas had done fine at school, he hadn't really seemed nervous at all. Sora was glad, he'd worried a little bit about how it would go. He found himself doing that a lot lately, worrying little bits over Roxas. Is Roxas comfortable, is Roxas having fun, will Roxas cope or handle it? He'd never really fret over anyone before, but he found that what Roxas felt and thought was just as important to him as his own thoughts and feelings.

Sora drug his backpack up the stairs, and turned to head towards his room. He passed Roxas' door and noticed the light was off. Sora paused in the hallway, and left his backpack there in favor of Roxas' room.

Sora pushed open his door quietly. He was lying on his bed in the dark, the lava lamp lazily sending blobs to its far reaches only to suck them back down. "Are you taking a nap?" Sora asked, the lack of light driving him to lower his voice.

Roxas turned his head in Sora's direction and watched him slowly approach his bed. He automatically scooted over to make space for him, only wondering afterward why he did so. Sora took advantage of the space and plopped down next to him on his stomach. "I was thinking about it," Roxas replied to Sora's inquiry. He hadn't even been as tired as Sora, but his body had just sunk into his bed the minute he laid down on it.

Sora propped himself up on his elbows. He watched the lava lamp for a while, before looking at Roxas out of the corner of his eye. He had been silent, but he wasn't asleep. He was staring at the ceiling as if he looked long enough, it might have some sort of answer for him.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Sora asked, almost abruptly. He guessed it was a weird question but he was honestly curious. Maybe he could tell Roxas a few things that the ceiling didn't know?

"I dunno. I was sorta wondering something," Roxas responded with a small and brief furrow of his eyebrows. He didn't usually just talk to people like this, but it was just Sora. A lot of things he just dismissed when around Sora. Things that used to be awkward became more natural for him.

"Yeah?" Sora prompted, sliding down to lay all the way on the bed, turning his head away and resting it on his arms. Maybe if he wasn't staring directly at Roxas, than he would be more comfortable talking.

"What's it mean when you're face gets warm and turns red?" Roxas asked. He'd been curious about this for a while, since it seemed to be happening for him a lot lately.

Sora thought at first this was a random question, possibly even a dumb one. He had to remind himself that Roxas hadn't entirely gotten used to real feelings yet. "If you aren't sick, in which case you should check your neck and forehead, too. Maybe lie down and drink a sprite if your stomach doesn't feel good…"

Roxas nodded. A little rambly, but he'd continue to listen. He was pretty sure that he wasn't getting sudden flashes of sickness at random, though.

"…And if you aren't drunk, then it means you're blushing cause you're embarrassed about something. Like, you know. Someone calls you names or you do something humiliating or you feel dumb in front of someone else. You know, or someone says something nice to you and you can't handle it." Sora explained thoroughly. He sat up. "Usually you get a little weirdness in your stomach, too. Like right here," Sora pushed his fingers into Roxas' stomach and he flinched.

Sora grinned impishly. He moved his hand over to the left. "Or right here," and pressed his fingers into Roxas' stomach again.

"Heh," Roxas said accidentally, squirming. "Stop that."

"Stop what?" Sora asked slyly, reaching over with his other hand and employing all of his fingers on Roxas' stomach.

"Stop! Haha…" he squirmed and one of his legs kicked on its own. It was a weird sensation, it made him laugh.

"No way. I knew it. You're ticklish!" Sora practically laughed maniacally aloud. He went after Roxas again and Roxas grabbed his wrists.

"No you don't, you little brat. I bet you're ticklish, too," he forced Sora back on his bed and pinned one arm with his knee, the other above his head.

"Roxas! Roxas, come on," Sora pleaded, pulling at his restrained arms. Roxas only smirked. Judging from Sora's panicked expression, he was ticklish. Possibly severely.

Roxas went straight for his stomach and Sora writhed, laughing hysterically. Roxas continued his torture, deciding it was a great idea to push Sora's shirt up and poke and prod at his bare stomach.

"Roxas! Stop! Nooo! Haha! Stooop!" Sora called out, his head thrashing from side to side.

Roxas merely laughed and let go, sitting back from where he had pinned Sora. He was grinning rather accomplishedly until he caught sight of Sora under him, drowned in dim light from the lava lamp. He was panting slightly and red-faced from what Roxas knew was the struggling, his shirt pushed up to his chest.

Roxas immediately climbed off him and crashed face down on the bed, knowing his cheeks has flushed redder than Sora's, and for an entirely different reason.

"You're a jerk," Sora said with a pout, sitting up. He looked down at Roxas. Could he breathe with his face crushed so far into his pillow?

"Roxas," Sora said, poking him. He flinched and grunted.

"Roxas," Sora repeated, prodding him again. Was he hiding for some reason?

"Go away!" Roxas' muffled voice said suddenly. He was sure his face was bright red, even in the dark. He definitely had that stomach issue Sora was talking about, earlier.

Sora frowned. "Roxas!" he poked him rather hard. Why was he being like that?

Roxas hit his hand away. "I said go away, Sora! You're embarrassing!"

Huh? Sora was a little taken aback. Earlier this morning came back to his mind briefly, Roxas asking, sounding rather annoyed, if he was always going to be this loud. "You're a jerk!" he repeated, this time no joking in his tone. He left Roxas' room closing the door not-so-quietly. In fact, the walls shook a little from the vibration.

Roxas sat up after a minute with a frown. Did he say something wrong? But Sora had told him…! So, what was wrong?! He pulled at his hair a little, confused.

Sora threw himself on his bed with a frustrated growl, Roxas' sharp words ringing in his head. Did Roxas really think…? Sora covered his face with his arm, trying to prevent any overanalyzing of words and situations from earlier from flooding into his head. Was Sora embarrassing? Did he stand too close to Roxas? Was that why he asked him if he was gay?! It was just…comfortable to be so close to him, was all. Sora just did it automatically.

Sora huffed and turned on his side, curling up around his pillow. Maybe it was better to take that nap.


	4. Riku's Pretend Lovelife: Kairi

**Riku's Pretend Lovelife: Kairi **

Riku was awesome. He knew it, too. He wasn't just awesome, though, he told himself as he looked in the mirror. He was a snazzily dressed, irresistible sizzling hot piece of walking sex if he did say so himself. (And he did).

That's what he decided, anyway. He was just thinking about it in depth when his pocket vibrated.

"Yes?" he answered, practicing his suave voice.

"Stop, you sound like one of those phone sex operators," Kairi's voice came across the line.

"What?! Are you calling me a cheap hooker?" Riku protested, not bothering with the smooth sexy voice for now.

"No, actually I'm calling you LATE. Stop primping and get over here already." she hung up on him.

Riku looked at his phone in indignation. How could she! And he was working so hard to look so great for their date! (Not that he needed to try very hard to look this good.)

Riku looked in the mirror again. "I wasn't primping," he told it, before grabbing his jacket off his desk chair and heading out the door.

Riku pulled up to Kairi's house in his black mustang, a sixteenth birthday gift from his parents, who had joked that for his next birthday they were getting him a haircut. He thought of just honking as usual, but remembered that this was technically supposed to be a date, thus he lazily drug himself all the way out of the car and up to her door.

Namine answered his knock. "Hi, Riku. You look really good," she complimented, politely letting him in the door.

"Yeah," he responded, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Where's our favorite redhead? Don't tell me she's primping or she's got another thing coming," he swore.

Kairi came down the stairs a second later. She had planned on just going out there when she saw Riku pull up, but reminded herself that this was a date and she should probably stay in her room until the last possible second.

Riku grinned as she bounced down the stairs and slipped her shoes on. "Ooooo, did you go buy a new outfit?" he asked, surveying her cute little skirt and top. He knew Kairi and Sora's wardrobes like the back of his hand. It happened when you spent so much time with a person. (Though occasionally Sora did surprise him with a random belt he thought was new because the kid had so many he hadn't worn in it years.)

"Of course. That's what girls do before a date," Kairi informed him, noticing that HE was wearing new clothes, too. She shook her head. Predictable, her best friend was. Worse than Sora.

"Lets blow this popsicle stand," Kairi announced after she finished slipping on her shoes. "You gonna be okay?" she asked Namine.

Namine nodded. "Yeah, I think I'm going to call up Axel or Roxas or something," she said, reassuring her sister. Really, Namine might end up just popping in a movie and staying home she thought, but she wasn't going to tell Kairi that.

"You're next, Namine," Riku warned her, before Kairi pulled him out the door.

Riku slid into the driver's seat of his car before he noticed Kairi just standing outside her door. "Its unlocked," he said, starting the car.

"Were you born in a barn? Come open the door for me you narcissist," Kairi shook her head.

Riku bit his lip. Duh! He was too used to just hanging out with Kairi just as them. Just as friends. _Right, date. This is a date._

Riku hopped out of the car and met Kairi's mock-annoyed gaze with an apologetic look. "Good thing you picked me first for your little experiment, otherwise we'd have a serious rumor going around about how you may be sexy but you're completely inept at dating," she warned him, pulling her legs inside the car and letting Riku shut the door.

"How many dates have you been on, miss thang?" Riku asked, putting the car in drive.

Kairi almost looked embarrassed for a second. "Uh…well…with Sora…" she tried to think of a time that ever was actually a date. She giggled sort of shyly after a second. "Guess none of those times ever counted."

Riku stared at her as if he didn't understand why people breathed air.

"Watch the road, you moron!" Kairi called out suddenly, and Riku swerved to avoid the elderly.

"Sorry, I was just surprised," he said. Kairi's first date? But, she was so cute! With her perky red hair and her bright smile and that not-quite-pink dress she liked to wear. Riku didn't get it. He was ashamed of every guy ever in existence at that very moment.

"Well, don't rub it in. Since I already seem more aware of how to do this than you do," she pointed out. "Either that or you're just a jackass."

"That could be it," Riku admitted, as he turned left and cut off a pedestrian who was perfectly well trying to cross the road legally.

"Where are we actually going?" Kairi asked, surveying her surroundings for the first time.

"Is it supposed to be a surprise?" Riku asked. He'd only planned to take her to eat at somewhere he knew they both liked.

Kairi shrugged. "A surprise is kind of cute and thoughtful. Make sure you know a little about the girl before you pick somewhere, though. Like 'Surprise we're going to a Monster Truck Rally!' only works on someone like Tifa."

Had Riku thought about it, it might be weird that Kairi was giving him advice on how to date. He was RIKU, he was only innately good at everything, perfectly intelligent and uber sexy. You can't really BE this hott and not be a sweetheart with the ladies.

Though according to Kairi, he wasn't so ept as he once thought. "Are you gonna sit down?" he asked, once they'd arrived at the restaurant.

Kairi sighed and sat down. "I KNOW I've made you watch chick flicks before, Riku. You didn't pull my chair out and you didn't even hold the door for me!" Kairi kicked him under the table.

"Is this a hint to play footsie?" he asked. Kairi kicked him again, hard. "Ow! Okay, I guess not!"

"Tell me you have table manners," Kairi asked, as the waiter dished out their menus. Kairi watched Riku put his napkin on his lap and she just about sighed with relief.

"Geeze, Kairi. Don't you have any faith in me at all? Look, just chill for the rest of the night, and I'll make the smooth moves. At the end, you can tell me what went wrong and what was way too awesome for you to handle."

Kairi smoothed her napkin across her lap. "Okay, okay. I'm just worried this plan of yours is going to backfire in your face," she admitted. Riku was just out to keep himself occupied, and his friends knew that. Still, Kairi didn't want any of their friends to accidentally fall for him, or worse, several of their friends, and Riku to nonchalantly break their hearts. Not to mention Riku would be mortified if some rumor started getting around that he was the worst date they'd ever had.

Riku nudged her foot under the table. "It'll be fine, really."

* * *

Sora turned the corner, grocery bag in hand. He immediately distanced himself exactly 2.5 feet from Roxas, who was walking next to him with what seemed like a perma-scowl on his face. It was Friday, and since their little episode on Monday, Sora and Roxas had been avoiding each other like the plague. Sora, trying to think of ways to be supposedly 'less embarrassing', and Roxas, trying to think of what Sora's problem was.

Roxas sighed in an annoyed fashion. "Stop doing that," Sora snapped immediately. Roxas looked directly at him and did it again.

Sora was about to comment, when all his attention was grabbed and completely thrown at the window they had just walked by. "Hey, isn't that Riku and Kairi?"

Roxas stopped at his inquiry and peered into the window where Sora was staring intently. "Yep," Roxas said, boredly, seeing Sora's best friends chatting idly over dinner. He made to walk off but Sora grabbed his arm abruptly.

"They're on a date, aren't they?" Sora asked pointedly, pressing his finger against the glass to point at them.

Roxas just stared down at Sora's grip on his arm. "So? I thought they planned it? What's the big deal?" He tried to pull his arm away from Sora, but he wouldn't let go. In fact, Sora pulled him closer and whined.

"Ahhh, I feel so left out," he sighed. Roxas rolled his eyes at Sora, not being able to help but pat his arm. "Left out from a date, or left out from Kairi and Riku?" he asked, to be sure.

"Booooth," Sora said, sighing again.

Roxas shrugged. "Not like Riku's on an ACTUAL date with her. So lets just go home and-"

"Lets STALK them!" Sora said suddenly.

Roxas stared at him. He waited for the 'haha joking'. But it didn't come. "What?" he finally asked. "Why?"

"Cause I'm BORED and it could be AMUSING and I want to KNOW what happens!" Sora pulled Roxas back around the corner they had just come around, as it looked like Riku and Kairi had finished their meal and we're getting ready to leave.

Roxas appreciated that Sora seemed to have forgotten he was avoiding him. Well, they weren't carrying anything that needed to be refrigerated in their grocery bags so… "I guess we can spy on them a little," he pulled Sora a little further around the corner. "But you have GOT to be more sneaky than that. You can't just stand in plain sight."

"-because that would work. You know Sora's faster than me," Riku's voice floated out of the restaurant.

"Riku, ANYONE is faster than you," Kairi's voice joined him.

"Awww, they're talking about me!" Sora blurted out, and Roxas covered his mouth, pressing him against the brick wall of the small Italian place. "Shhhh!" he ordered, quietly. Sora tried to mumble something under Roxas' hand, but Roxas squeezed his arm. "Be quiet, Sora. Not that its embarrassing enough to be stalking them, it would be even worse if they ACTUALLY found us."

Sora fell silent. He knew Roxas still thought he was embarrassing. He narrowed his eyebrows, determined. Well, he'd just have to prove Roxas wrong!

"Shhh!" he told Roxas, pointedly and for no real reason. "They're getting into the car!" Sora recognized the chirp of Riku's car indicating it was unlocked.

Both boys craned their necks around the corner. Kairi had bent down (Well, squatted. How could she wear such a short skirt?) and picked up a hot pink flier. Neither Sora nor Roxas could hear what they were saying, but they appeared to be reading it and pointing to a small vendor that had staked out next to the Italian place. The place was called "Sibbie's Scooter Rentals" and had a sign with a cartoony looking couple riding a moped, their exhaust emitting the word 'VROOM!' in giant letters.

Riku's car chirped again and the two abandoned it for the moped stand. "Are they gonna rent a moped? That's way too romantic for just friends," Sora pointed out. Roxas shrugged. Riku may have some magic plan to stay attached yet not, but he could very well fall for one of the girls he dated.

"How are we gonna follow them now?" Roxas asked, pulling Sora out from around the corner as Kairi and Riku put helmets on and started to climb on their newly rented moped.

Sora tapped his chin thoughtfully. "We'll be on a date!" he decided, waiting for Riku and Kairi to leave and pulling Roxas towards the scooter place. "If we hurry and get one, we can catch up to them!"

"What?!" Roxas said, willing his face not to turn red AGAIN. "Sora! But that's-!"

But Sora was already inquiring as to the price.


	5. Save it For Me

Riku pulled out of the parking lot fast and Kairi held onto him for dear life. "If you crash this thing and we survive I'll kill you myself!"

"Kairi, please! I have so much skill that it can't EVEN be contained inside a four story building so you'd better-"

"SMALL CHILDREN, RIKU!"

Swerve! Kairi's heart was beating a million miles an hour, and she was gripping Riku so hard he wouldn't be surprised if he had bruised ribs tomorrow.

"Kairi! Let up, woman! I can't breathe!" Riku called back to her.

Kairi loosened her grip a tiny bit. "I can't help it! Stop being such a Dangeresque!"

"You think its hott!" Riku said, laughing as he pulled into the beach parking lot and directed the moped into a parking spot.

Kairi climbed off immediately, stumbling a little, glad to be back on the ground. "Yeah, Riku. You trying to kill us? Absolute turn-on."

Riku put an arm on Kairi's lower back gently to help steady her. He laughed a little. "Okay, I get it. I'll slow down on the way back. It was cool though, right?" She'd been a little skeptical when they'd picked up the flier, but Riku had insisted. He would feel bad if she'd absolutely hated it.

Kairi giggled a little. "Yeah, it was fun." She unzipped her purse and pulled out a comb. "C'mere, helmet hair, before you accidentally see your reflection and have a brain aneurism."

Riku touched his head. "Oh no! Are you kidding? Kairi, make it good!" he pretended to panic, though really the fact that his hair might possibly look terrible on a DATE nonetheless was sort of unsettling.

Kairi stood on her tiptoes and carefully combed the tangles out of Riku's hair. "There," she said, tucking the comb back in her purse for safekeeping.

Riku shook his head a little, feeling his sleek locks fall across his shoulder. "Thanks," he said, reaching over and smoothing out a patch of her hair, too. Kairi smiled at him and Riku felt a weird twinge in his stomach for a brief moment.

"Shall we?" Kairi interrupted his twinge by nudging him towards the boardwalk where a few other couples and random college students were existing. There were a couple shops on the boardwalk that they weaved between to get to the view of the water. Riku decided this was probably a good time to hold Kairi's hand, so he reached down and caught her wrist, sliding his hand against hers until their fingers were intertwined.

Roxas and Sora came to a stop in the parking lot, and Sora turned the moped off. They'd argued over who was going to drive and Sora had won by not only having a driver's license, but not shutting up about how great he handled the Gummi ship, there was no way this could be any harder. He'd proved himself by obeying traffic laws, observing speed limits, and effectively avoiding trees, various size and breed of dogs, and all other manner of obstacles.

"You okay?" Sora asked, noticing that Roxas was clinging to him rather tightly.

"Yep," Roxas replied, his muffled voice produced from where it was buried into Sora's shoulder.

"Well, we're here so you can-" Sora began.

"Shut up, Sora," Roxas commanded, scrunching handfulls of the front of Sora's jacket in his fists as he held onto him.

Sora's mouth remained shut. He clenched and unclenched his fists on the handlebars of the moped, not sure what to do. He felt the rise and fall of Roxas' chest pressed up against his back and heard his quiet breathing muffled by the fabric of his jacket. "H-hey…Roxas? Um…"

"Sorry," Roxas interrupted him, letting go of Sora slowly and climbing off the moped. "Sorry about Monday, you know?"

Sora watched Roxas take his helmet off and shake his hair back into its regular buoyant state. He grinned at Roxas almost sheepishly, and Roxas burst out laughing.

"Just LOOK at the way your hair sticks out from the helmet!" he exclaimed. Sora's hair made no sense on a regular basis, so shoving it under a helmet gave it grounds for complete rebellion, sticking wildly out of every opening available. It sure was cute, though. Roxas shook his head. He thought that word a lot lately about Sora.

Sora popped his helmet off and climbed off the moped. "Did you see where they went?" Sora asked, surveying the boardwalk ahead of them. He didn't spot Riku's sexy silver hair anywhere, or Kairi's cute little skirt (they had TOTALLY gotten new outfits for this date!). Roxas was gazing to their left, where the wooden planks from the boardwalk disappeared into the sand, which in turn disappeared into the darkness.

"Who cares?" Roxas replied, grabbing Sora's hand and pulling him towards the end of the boardwalk.

"Wah-!" Sora exclaimed, allowing himself to be led into the sand. He thought they were stalking Kairi and Riku…? Roxas was pulling him slowly towards the beach, though, where the artificial light was dimmed and the moonlight lit the sand.

Roxas had NO idea what he was doing. Note that, no EFFING idea. He'd started to feel these weird urges once in a while. Where he suddenly had an idea, and then wanted really badly to act on it. So far, he just had acted on every single sudden idea he'd had. Impulses, he vaguely remembered them being called. Problem was, he didn't know why he got impulses and he didn't understand why they were the ideas that they were. For instance, why had he dragged Sora out onto the beach like this?

Why was he still holding his hand? But, Sora didn't let go either. In fact, Sora squeezed his hand and swung it a bit between them.

"I love the beach at night!" Sora said, hopping a little out of the way of the waves. It was quiet and there was absolutely no one. There were more stars further away from the dock, and you could hear the waves as the chatter of people died down.

"We're not actually on a date, right?" Roxas asked, letting go of Sora's hand. Sora's arms automatically went up behind his head, denoting that he was comfortable.

"Its not exactly the way dates are supposed to go. I mean, how dumb is it start a date without warning in the middle of the night with someone random?" Sora explained.

"It was YOUR idea," Roxas reminded him. If Sora wanted to call his own idea dumb, guess he had license too. "And last time I checked, I wasn't someone random."

"Oh, yeah. I guess," Sora said with a laugh. "It'd probably be your first date anyway, huh?"

Roxas shuffled his feet along the sand, looking up at the stars. "Yeah, it would."

"Well, then. It won't be a date. I'd want you to have a real, proper first date," Sora decided. Roxas looked at him sideways but Sora was looking out at the ocean. Sora wasn't exactly sure why, but Roxas absolutely deserved to have a fantastic first date. Sora would just kill whoever it was if they screwed it up. In fact, he wasn't so sure how much he trusted anyone to do it right.

"Roxas? Could I have it?" Sora asked, almost politely.

Roxas lifted an eyebrow at him. "Have what?" he asked. His jacket? Was Sora cold or something? He did have his own jacket on.

"Your first date, the real one. Could you save it for me?" Sora asked, quietly. He only sort of started to realize that it was a huge thing to ask Roxas to reserve just for him. Roxas was quiet for a little while and Sora started to think it was really stupid of him to ask. Roxas would probably rather have his first date with someone he was more comfortable with, like Namine or even Axel.

"Sorry, it was kind of selfish of me to-" Sora started to apologize, but Roxas cut him off.

"Yeah," he said. Sora's face fell a little. Roxas was agreeing with him. "You can have it. But you'd better save yours for me."

"What makes you think I've haven't gone on TONS of dates?" Sora protested, secretly thrilled that Roxas had said yes.

Roxas raised an eyebrow at him.

"FINE," Sora replied. He really hadn't. Roxas saw right through him. "Promise?" Sora asked, holding out his pinky to Roxas.

Roxas stared at it, wondering what the gesture was for. He batted Sora's hand away playfully. "Promise."

* * *

Riku pulled up to Kairi's house. "Stop," he said, as she reached for the door handle. He got out of the car and went around to open her door for her.

"So gentlemanly, right?" Riku winked at her as she climbed out of his car. He pushed the door shut with his hip.

_Okay, Riku, you debonair. You've read this plot by accident in your Mom's cheesy romance novels._ He offered his arm to Kairi and walked her to her doorstop. Once his shoe hit the top step the vibration went straight to his stomach and turned into a twinge.

"Well, Riku. I have to hand it to you. I think you'll be able to keep up your reputation if you do this good on your other dates." Kairi told him. It had been really fun, sort of like how they always hung out only with little extras, like not having to pay and hand holding.

"Really? Well, I had the best dictator, er, teacher," Riku joked, reaching out and tucking a little of Kairi's hair behind her ear.

Kairi laughed lightly. "Just remember, manners, politeness, don't let your hands wander too much, you'll continue to be the most sought after guy in the whole school." For a second, Riku thought he heard a little disappointment in her voice.

"Hey uh, is it appropriate to kiss on the first date?" Riku asked, avoiding eye contact with her. Kairi laughed. Cute, Riku. You're NEVER nervous!

"Not really," Kairi replied. "Its better to wait for a second date." She sort of looked at him. Riku wasn't thinking of…?

"O…kay. Just making sure," he replied, shrugging, still avoiding her eye contact.

Kairi let out the breath she wouldn't admit she was holding in. "Wanna come in?" she asked, unlocking her door.

"Moving a little fast there, Kairi," Riku chided her. "Its not even the second date."

Kairi whacked him one on the arm. "Don't be a pervert."

"Right, right." Riku laughed and bent down, kissing her lightly on the cheek. "Night, Kairi." He turned and took all her porch steps in one stride, walking with his hands in his pockets back to his car.

Kairi smiled, her face colored with a light blush. It baffled her how Riku could be such an asshole yet so endearing at the same time. Along with how he kept his hair so nice, guess it would just remain forever unexplained.


	6. Experiment: Roxas

Sora had been staring intently at his textbook. He had read the same line over and over again, not able to concentrate for the life of him. As he read _'Montalag Vonstewikus first discovered the smallest of the Destiny Islands as a pinpoint of land on the horizon.' _for the eighth time in his head, his gaze wandered off the textbook over to where Roxas was sitting by the window. His hair caught the sunlight perfectly and his face was clear he'd rather be out in it than learning about Montalog Vonstewikus from a teacher who was so old he probably knew him personally.

Sora continued to stare at Roxas, hoping he'd look over and he could catch his attention. He studied his face, his nose, bright blue eyes, all features identical to his own, yet on Roxas they looked different. He was pondering this phenomenon when Roxas finally looked over at him. Sora momentarily forgot what he had been thinking about and just stared until Roxas smiled at him and waved a 'Hello? Earth to Sora!' at him.

Sora blinked a few times and rubbed the back of his head. Wow, he was out of it. He shifted his feet a little. Roxas held up five fingers to Sora. 'Five minutes,' he mouthed, nodding a little. Sora turned and rubbed his nose a little to cover up his laughter, looking at the clock. Roxas hated this class just as much as Sora did.

Two minutes (and counting) until class was out, Sora found himself staring at Roxas' bored features again. How did his hair do that flip thing? Sora was curious. In fact, Sora was curious about a lot of things. Roxas was supposed to be sort of like his other half, but how alike were they really? Was Roxas ticklish in the same spots as him? Did he have THAT birthmark? Did they wear the same size shoe? Did Roxas like Chocolate on top of vanilla ice cream? Sora wanted to know.

Thirty seconds until the end of the school day, Sora decided. He would do whatever it took to quell his curiosity about Roxas. It was like a Science Fair project, and Roxas was the subject.

All the way home from school, Sora bombarded Roxas with questions. "Roxas, do you like cheese?"

"Yep," Roxas replied, adjusting his backpack.

"What about eggs?" Sora pressed.

"Nope," Roxas replied. Especially not sunny side up.

"Have you ever thrown up before?" Seemed kind of random but, hey, it was information.

"No. I hope I don't ever have to, either. You'd better take care of me if I ever get sick." He nudged Sora playfully.

"Of course! I'll rub your back if you throw up, and I'll put a washcloth on your forehead if you have a fever," Sora told him, patting his shoulder. Continuing with the questions. "Do you like uncles?"

"What's an uncle?" Roxas asked casually. He looked over when Sora didn't answer. "What?"

Sora burst out laughing at him. "You're hilarious!"

Roxas frowned at him and immediately put him in a headlock. "Why? What is it?! Are you making fun of me?!"

"No!" Sora said, pulling his head out of Roxas' grip, laughing.

"What's an uncle?!" Roxas demanded, stopping and refusing to go any further before he found out.

Sora winked at him. "Its like saying 'I give up'. You say 'uncle' instead."

"Hmmm…" Roxas replied, as if he didn't quite believe Sora. They continued walking.

Sora continued his interview of Roxas, through their after school snack, and while they were playing video games.

"What your favorite number?" Sora asked, as they button mashed to beat each other at super smash brothers.

"Thirteen," Roxas replied, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"Really? How come?" Sora prodded, glancing over at Roxas now and again, causing him to begin losing.

"Oh, gee Sora, I dunno. Maybe it has some personal meaning to me?" Roxas replied sarcastically. He killed Sora's character with a stab of the button and looked over at him. "Why? What's YOUR favorite number, Sora? Huh?"

"TWO!" Sora replied, holding out his fingers to indicate his favorite number. "Because its not too little and not too much. Just enough but not too many!"

Roxas sort of looked at him and sighed. Sora just, made no sense sometimes. "Whatever," Roxas replied, scooting away from Sora on the couch and lying down, using Sora's leg for a headrest. They continued their game and Sora fell silent for a while, thinking over what he wanted to ask Roxas next. He'd gathered a lot of information already, was it time to delve into more personal stuff?

"Hey, how come it takes you so long to take a shower?" Sora asked. That could be pretty personal, right?

"Uhhh…" Roxas replied. Why was Sora asking him so many questions? Was he doing some weird report on him that he refused to tell him about? "Its because I knit entire sweaters while I'm in there," he replied with a smirk.

Sora was quiet for a second. "But it would get wet," he replied.

Roxas felt the urge to hit himself on the forehead with the palm of his hand. "I was joking!"

"Oh," Sora replied. "Well, what's the real answer?!"

"Well…" Roxas started to answer. "Because I like to stand under the water. It feels really good really hot on my back, and shoulders, and neck, and my head. So that takes a while to get bored of," Roxas sort of shrugged the best he could while lying down.

"And?" Sora prodded him in the shoulder. It couldn't take forty five minutes for water to get on you. Though he was having a hard time getting the image of Roxas in the shower out of his head, which he blamed on Roxas for such a precise account of what he did in the shower. (Even though Sora had asked.)

Roxas sighed a little. "And," he went on, slaughtering Sora's character because he seemed to not be paying attention any longer, "Then I wash my hair. Which takes a long time. Doesn't it take a long time to wash your hair?"

"No," Sora replied flatly. You put the shampoo in, rub, and rinse it out. Nothing to it.

Roxas shrugged again. "Guess I just have nicer hair than you," he decided.

"Do not," Sora argued.

"Fine. Believe what you want," Roxas replied, forgetting Sora and putting the game on one player.

Sora put down his controller and vaguely pouted at Roxas' head in his lap. He did NOT have better hair. He had a weird cowlick. Sora ran his fingers through it just to make sure, following the flow of Roxas' hair, in an odd swirl and off to one side. It was really soft between his fingers. He had a mischievous idea to push all of his hair the other way, and when he did, Roxas' whole body shivered.

Sora cracked a grin and did it again. Roxas shuddered. "Stooop," he half-complained. "Be nice if you want to play with my hair."

"I'm nice," Sora replied, putting his fingers back in Roxas' hair. Because it went in a certain direction, Sora could comb his fingers through it, not like his own hair which was difficult to manage. Even when he tried to hold the flip on Roxas' hair down, it sprung back up as soon as he let go.

Sora pressed his fingers experimentally into Roxas' scalp and he sighed a little. He did it again, producing yet another sigh. Sora gently massaged the base of his skull, causing Roxas to hum quietly. It was interesting, when he made these little noises. Sora made a point to hit all the spots Roxas seemed to like. After a while, his character stopped moving on the screen.

"Roxas?" Sora asked quietly, but there was no response. Sora listened closely to his even breathing, and watched his shoulder rise and fall. Roxas was loosely clutching the controller but his hand had dropped onto the ground.

Sora sighed and rolled his eyes, settling back into the couch. Guess it was naptime.


	7. Riku's Pretend Lovelife: Namine

**Riku's Pretend Lovelife: Namine**

Though his parents may not admit it at times, Riku was not only handsome, he was smart. After word got around that he had broken up with Kairi, Riku spent all weekend with Kairi and Namine. He felt the need to make it up to them for dumping them, considering it a minor detail that he hadn't even dated Namine yet, let alone dumped her.

He had also been secretly finding out Namine's likes and dislikes, to pick a good place to take her. He decided on a weekend afternoon between meals date, and pulled up to Namine and Kairi's house on Sunday. Riku had taken the figures of how much it had cost to take Kairi out, and almost turned as pale as his hair when he realized what kind of money he'd need to continue dates like that every other week. Not covered by his allowance, definitely.

Riku let himself into Kairi's house and called out if anyone was home. He decided a lunch date was more casual, because Namine seemed more laid back, and more shy. It was better to make her feel comfortable. Riku had it covered.

Kairi came out of the kitchen with a juice box in her hand. "Hey," she said, sipping on it as she approached Riku. She lifted an eyebrow, and reached up to yank on his hair that was tied back neatly in a ponytail. "What's this?"

"Easy!" Riku said, batting her hand away. "What are you, in the third grade?" Like an eight year old pulling on the ponytail of the girl they liked. Geeze. "I was going for the uh, laidback attractive medieval sort of look."

"Hm," was all Kairi said, the slurping noise indicating the juice box was empty.

"What do you mean, 'Hm'? I like to dress for the environment! Its not MY fault you don't see the beauty in my genius," Riku pretended to be hurt until Namine came down the stairs.

"Hi, Riku!" She said, cheerfully, slipping her shoes on.

"Hi," Riku replied, catching Kairi's look that indicated he'd be barbequed alive if Namine didn't have a good time. "I uh, took the top off my car so, watch your hair." He'd watch his own hair, so he should equally care about others, right?

Namine just smiled and followed Riku out the door. Riku politely opened the car door for her, and then made a fun show of vaulting into his car without opening his own. Man, he was cool.

"Where are we going?" Namine asked, immediately liking the feel of the breeze in her hair as soon as Riku took off down the road.

"It's a little place I know. Actually, I've never been there but it seemed cool."

Namine enjoyed the ride in Riku's car, but she found she didn't have much to say to him. Riku wasn't particularly talkative either, but it wasn't so bad. The wind was whipping in their ears, anyway.

Riku employed his door this time as they arrived at their destination in the middle of downtown. He dropped some quarters in the parking meter and made sure that there were no hobos in the immediate vicinity, and nothing in particular to steal from his car. He didn't worry so much about the actual car, with his parents kind of money they'd have it back before his next date anyway.

The building before them was short and squat, jammed in between Mary's Merry Maids, a dry cleaners run by foreigners, and some new age place where you could pay to lie around in a metal triangle cage and learn about how sound invented the universe. The building that Riku held the door open to was called _"Sicilie's"._

* * *

Roxas was asleep on his textbook and Sora was staring blankly at a weird painting that claimed to be a woman with a cello hanging on the wall opposite where they were sitting. Really, it was some blocks of cheese with a distorted face and a stick for a hand. The stick appeared to be stabbing into a giant gourd, out of which flowed the water of life and destiny. Or that's what Sora decided, anyway. The jingle on the small bell tied to the door forced his attention that direction, and he watched two pale-haired teenagers enter the shop.

"Worst luck ever!" he muttered, quickly picking up his textbook and propping it up in front of his face. Okay, last time they had intentionally stalked Riku and his date, this time they had TOTALLY been there first.

Sora looked over and noticed Roxas drooling on his textbook in plain sight. "Wake up!" he whispered urgently, shaking his shoulder. Roxas sat up and Sora could see the phrase 'well endowed down south' had rubbed off on his cheek from the southern islands chapter of his history book.

"What?" Roxas inquired sleepily, seeing that Sora looked somewhat nervous and was hunched behind his textbook. "Sora…"

Roxas became wide awake when Sora grabbed his collar and pulled him extremely close to his face. "Shhh…" he whispered, putting his finger on Roxas' lips. "Don't talk."

This is the moment Roxas would remember as the very first time he distinctly felt his heart beating in his chest. It was seemingly faster than normal, but not spurred on by physical exertion. For a moment, he wondered if he was experiencing a serious medical condition.

Sora moved to put Roxas' textbook up, too. He peeked around his own and watched Riku and Namine walk by, each with a beverage in their hand. The place was famous for good smoothies, coffee, and other drinks, as well as its basement activities. The two stopped to stare at the painting that Sora had previously been making up stuff about, and Namine seemed to be telling Riku about it. Riku however, looked confused.

"I don't get it," he said flatly. "It looks like someone puked on the canvas." Riku took a drink of his frappuccino. "Or like the death of a disproportionate baby."

Namine smiled and laughed sort of awkwardly. Riku sure was blunt. She looked at him and he seemed like he was getting into a mental fight with the painting for simply existing. Sora watched them head downstairs, hearing Riku's voice trail behind him, asking Namine what would be better than ten dead babies nailed to a tree. She answered eleven to humor him, but didn't find it so humorous when he said "One dead baby nailed to ten trees!"

Sora looked back at Roxas, who seemed to be sort of dumbstruck. He wondered if he'd fallen asleep with his eyes open. "You want to follow them?" Sora asked.

Roxas rubbed his face a little and moved away from Sora. "Uh, I guess? I've never been down in the basement before."

The basement gave the feel of an underground coffee shop, plush couches and quaint little tables tucked in each corner, along with a small stage. Namine and Riku sat near the middle, and therefore made it easy for Sora and Roxas to sneak onto a couch in the back under the dim light. There was a small, lighted stage in the front with one microphone on it.

Roxas spotted two people in the other corner of the room with their hands all over each other. "Well, at least they aren't doing THAT," he muttered. Sora looked over and tried not to stare. It was clear the two teenagers were of the opinion that the drinks weren't the only tasty thing in the shop.

"What's going on?" Namine asked Riku, after a little bit of silence. She wiped at the condensation on her cup of iced tea.

"A poetry reading, I guess," Riku replied, trying his very best to make himself sound interested. He'd picked it because it seemed like something Namine would like.

"Oh! Interesting," she responded. It seemed to lighten her mood a little. There was no more conversation between them before the poet padded out onto the stage.

Riku and Namine blinked a few times at the young man dressed all in black, trying for the life of them to figure out how the Organization's number six of all people had found his way to Destiny Islands. Riku watched him place a stool in front of the microphone, and you could hear the sounds of the mic being moved to accommodate his short stature.

Sora made one of those faces that indicated he didn't get something, but it must be messed up. "What's he doing here?" Sora asked, turning to Roxas. Roxas appeared to be paying close attention with his eyes closed. "Wake UP," he said, prodding Roxas hard in the stomach.

"Ow!" Roxas whined, sitting up from where he had been napping. He peered at the stage, and seemed to take absolutely no interest in what was there. Roxas toppled over and his head landed on Sora's shoulder.

Zexion blew lightly into the microphone and surveyed the tiny audience. Riku, and Namine he recognized, but he paid them no heed. Some kids making out in the corner, a few other people here and there. Some faces he couldn't place back in the darkness. Zexion didn't mind. He was here for one thing only.

"What is a heart?" he said into the microphone, his flat and somewhat dull voice echoing in the little basement. Riku tried as hard as he could to not burst out laughing.

Zexion went on.

"What is death, but rebirth?

Left is the forbidden way yet I am LEFT. (He emphasized this word like a small explosion into the microphone)

In the darkness and the myriad of non-light.

With the brainless and the bounty less in the bile."

Zexion paused here for some indiscriminate amount of time. He sort of looked off to nowhere and Riku turned around to try and decide what he was looking at. He turned back around and found himself staring at how the light gave Zexion's hair a distinct blue tint, and remained perplexed by its many layers and angles as it concealed his right eye from the audience.

" LIFE! (Another small explosion)

Was written to me in black and white and I-

I did not see the meaning.

Its ten point font glared and mocked me.

What is a heart, what is a soul, and where is my mind?

Clearly in elevation above the masses-"

Zexion, seemingly on a roll with his deep, transcending poetry, was suddenly interrupted by Riku slurping rudely on the end of his drink. "Are you calling me dumb?" he challenged.

Zexion stared at him boredly. "Well, in a sense, if you would like to put it that way, in a roundabout manner, yes," he replied.

Riku rolled his eyes, as Namine tried to hush him while the other audience members whispered to each other. "Well, I think your poem is dumb." Riku replied.

Zexion calmly slid off the stool. He held his hand out to the microphone. "Then please come enlighten us."

"Fine, I will," the scrape of Riku's chair reverberated off the walls and he sauntered up to the mic. Riku kicked over the stool, probably just to be a jerk, but he thought it looked cool. He then proceeded to pull his hair out of the ponytail so it effectively fell in his eyes. Zexion seated himself next to Namine, nodding a polite hello at her. She looked as if she was suddenly very tired.

Sora shook Roxas violently. "Wake up, wake up! Riku's gonna make up poetry!" he said, urgently. Roxas groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes.

He saw Riku on the stage, staring at the ceiling as if he were thinking. "What the hell's he think he's doing?" Roxas asked groggily.

Riku tapped the microphone experimentally.

"Hey," he said, pausing to look at Zexion, who simply drummed his fingers on the table in front of him.

"I don't think about stuff much, but what can you do?

What can I do?

Well, this is the idea: Its two years after then and I'm still THAT hott, and I'm still THAT smooth, and still more popular than, you guessed it. YOU." (He had to accomplish his minor explosion here.)

Riku sighed pointedly into the mic.

"But I'm still too far behind, too far away, way too far off and as far as conflicting interests go, far too many. One brunette and one redhead, two shots and two targets and I'm afraid," he shrugged. "One I may have already missed."

Riku quirked an eyebrow at Zexion, who nodded politely. He walked away from the mic and flipped his hair a little, standing over the table as the beatniks in the room snapped or clapped or whatever they do to show their emo-soul appreciation.

"You're RIDICULOUS," Namine told him, with a small smile, iced-tea straw between her teeth.

"You mean incredible?" Riku asked, pulling up a chair. "Or did you mean teeming with unsurpassable sex appeal? Great beyond comprehension? C'mon, its okay to say it."

Namine felt confident enough to whack him in the arm. "Just ridiculous. Sometimes borderline idiotic. And rude, to boot. Need I mention more?"

Riku smirked. He definitely saw that little bit of Kairi in her.

Sora stared blankly. He wasn't one to interpret poetry but, even he understood something fishy about that serenade.

"Sora?" Roxas asked, poking at his shoulder. Sora was non-responsive. Roxas realized it was time to make like a baby and head out. Especially if they wanted to continue living seeing as how Namine and Riku looked as if they were preparing to leave.

Roxas pulled and prodded Sora out the door of the shop, and far enough away to be out of sight and hopefully remain out of mind. Sora looked a little on vacation from his at the moment.

"Roxas to Sora, come in!" Roxas said, waving a hand in front of his face.

"So…Riku likes a brunette and a redhead?" Sora finally said. Roxas felt slightly irritated at the reminder, though he wasn't sure what made that happen.

"Yeah. So…what are you gonna do?" Finding out your best friend sorta likes you, that's kind of big. Roxas wouldn't know what he would do.

Sora shrugged. "If Riku wants to like Axel I don't think its any of my-"

Roxas' mouth dropped open. Could Sora be more dense? Roxas hit him, no qualms about how hard, either.

"Ow!" Sora complained, holding his shoulder and pouting.

"He's not talking about Axel, you retard," Roxas pointed out.

"Why not?" Sora argued. "He's the reddest head I've ever seen!" It only made sense to pick him!

Roxas shook his head. "No, he's more like a black and red head," Roxas decided.

"So he's a…bread head? A bled head? A rack head! A um," Sora tried out the combinations he could think of before Roxas hit him again.

"Ow! You're going to make me bruise!" Sora rubbed his shoulder again.

"He's obviously talking about Kairi, and JUST so you don't make up some stupid delusion, the brunette is most probably you," Roxas pointed out, feeling that irritation grow a little bit inside him.

Sora pointed to himself silently. He could be so stupid. Roxas grabbed his arm and started to drag him home.

"The real question is, which does he think he missed?" Roxas muttered.

Seemingly to feed Roxas' irritation, Sora didn't dumbly point at himself like a trained monkey this time.

"He went on a date with Kairi, and they 'broke up'. So logically…" Sora paused to get Roxas' opinion.

He didn't like the word 'logic' coming out of Sora's face. It was wrong and went against the natural order of the world.

Roxas sighed. "Then logically, I think you've got a problem on your hands."

* * *

"Hey," Riku said, as he dropped Namine off at her house. He looked at her somewhat seriously, a little different from his usual could-care-less manner.

"I won't tell, I promise," Namine said, holding up her fingers that were crossed. "Thanks for the date, Riku." She touched his arm briefly. "Don't miss that second shot." Namine smiled and started towards her front door, as Riku placed his head on the steering wheel to allow the stupid ness and mild embarrassment to seep from him before driving home.


	8. Missed Shot

Riku made a face as he watched Sora jump up as if his butt were on fire the minute he sat down next to him. He glared after his retreating back. Sora had been doing this all week, making up excuses to not remain around Riku for longer than five minutes. There was no way he really had to go to the bathroom that much. Riku watched Roxas pick up his lunch tray silently and stand.

"Where are you going?" Riku asked, irritably.

"Where do you think? After Sora," Roxas replied, shouldering his backpack.

Riku stabbed at his lunch. "You follow him like a lost puppy," he muttered.

"What?" Roxas demanded, almost dropping his tray.

"You heard what I said," Riku replied, stirring his pudding.

"Yeah, and what the hell's that supposed to mean?" Roxas challenged.

"Come on you guys," Namine said nervously. "Let's get along."

Roxas cocked an eyebrow. "No, Riku seems like he wants to say something, so I think he should." He would perfectly well wait for whatever snarky comment Riku felt the need to say.

Riku put his spoon in his mouth and licked the pudding off it nonchalantly. "Better run, Roxas, before Sora misses his little leech."

"Riku!" Namine said, not believing how rude they were being.

Roxas snorted. "I'll take this opportunity to feed your jealousy, then," he replied, stalking off in the direction Sora had escaped.

Riku glared after him, attempting to open his chocolate milk carton. "Stupid little brat I should-FUCKING milk carton!" Riku used all his frustration and ripped the carton apart, spraying all the girls sitting there.

"Ewww…" Kairi said, getting up to go to the bathroom. "What is wrong with you, Riku?" she took Namine's hand and they retreated to fix their clothes.

"Yum!" Selphie replied, licking the milk off her cheek. "You shouldn't be so grumpy about it, Riku. It'll turn out alright."

Riku didn't agree, sitting there with chocolate milk dripping from his hair, a dark scowl on his face.

* * *

Roxas found Sora at his locker, tapping his taplight on and off pointlessly. Roxas leaned against the locker bay.

"Sora," he said, attempting to get the brunette's attention.

Sora kept his head inside the locker and tapped, the little light illuminating his face and throwing it into darkness in a slow rhythm.

Roxas pulled on the back of Sora's collar and shut his locker. He effectively pinned Sora to it after it had shut. "Stop doing this."

"Doing what?" Sora replied with a sideways glance and a sigh.

"Avoiding Riku like he has the plague. You're causing more problems for yourself," Roxas pointed out. Sora was horrible at concealing secrets or masking the fact that something was bothering him.

Sora leaned forward and placed his forehead on Roxas' shoulder. "I can't," he sort of whined. "Riku's my best friend ever, but he like-likes me! But I don't like-like him. But I hate seeing him grumpy!"

Roxas sighed and ruffled Sora's hair gently. "Well he's grumpy now, so stop it. You have to pick something, Sora. You have to confront him or you have to ignore the fact that he likes you. You can't just keep avoiding him like this because then other people are subject to his asshole ness." _Like me, specifically._

"Fiiiiine…" Sora muttered into Roxas' shoulder. He just wanted to hide there for the rest of the day, if he could.

Roxas was about to kindly remind Sora to make up his mind soon, when there was the brief and distinct feeling on a hand slapping his ass. He yelped and practically crashed into Sora, holding onto him to prevent him from falling down.

Both boys watched Tidus' chuckling back walk away. "Get a room, you two. And next time, invite me."

* * *

"That's ugly," Roxas said, shaking his head as Axel held out the most hideous plate he'd ever seen.

"Then what's less ugly?!" Axel asked, putting the plate back in its display. Roxas was trying to help him pick stuff out for his apartment, but Axel only went for the tackiest stuff he could find.

"Why don't you just get something plain?" Roxas asked, pointing to a stark white set of dishes with a very conservative, rounded design to the pieces.

"Bo-ring!" Axel said, shaking his head. He picked up some non-traditional, angular dishes. "This ones cool. It comes in red! Score," he squatted down to find the box that matched the display.

The two walked out of the store, Roxas having been employed to carry half of Axel's bags. He groaned as they arrived at the bus stop, and sat down on the bench to wait. "I sure hope you're getting a car soon," Roxas complained. "Can't you build one from scratch, yet?" Taking all this stuff on the bus was going to be annoying.

Axel laughed and sat down next to him, putting his arm up and around Roxas' shoulders. He squeezed his shoulder lightly. "Yeah, right. I don't actually know how to do much past an oil change, yet. Soon, though. Maybe I'll even take you on a date in celebration when I do get one."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Not in a million years, Axel." Which, it would probably take him that long to get a car, anyway. "Not that I'd need to worry." He stood up as the bus pulled to the curb and they got inside.

"Aw, c'mon Roxas. You know I'd show you a good time," he elected to loom over Roxas as the blonde sat down with all their bags.

Roxas ignored his come-ons and looked out the window as the city passed them. He was quiet for a minute, until he noticed Axel's knees knocking into him repeatedly. "What?" he asked lazily, looking up at the redhead.

"What are you thinking about?" Axel asked, curious.

Roxas shrugged. "Just wondering what Sora was up to. He's supposed to be hanging out with Riku and knowing him he's wrecking the whole thing."

Axel reached over Roxas to pull the request stop cord. "You sure seem to think about him a lot," he commented. "Not to mention spend a lot of time with him lately."

Roxas looked back at him, eyebrows slightly furrowed. "What are you getting at?"

Axel shrugged, picking up his bags and holding onto the railing as the bus jerked to a stop. "I dunno. You just seem particularly attached to him is all."

Roxas didn't stop his slight frowning, not even all the way up the steps to Axel's apartment. Riku had sort of mentioned the same thing, but Roxas knew for a fact that some of it must have been spurred by his jealousy.

"I don't see how that's a bad thing," Roxas finally said, placing his bags on Axel's counter in the kitchen. He felt a hand envelope his wrist and he turned around, only to be pressed up against the counter with Axel's weight.

"No," Axel said, Roxas almost seeing a predatory look in his eyes. "Its just that I've never had a rival before. I guess it could make the game more interesting."

"Game?" Roxas practically squeaked, not being able to back up any further or the counter would start digging into his back. "Axel-"

Axel used his index finger to lift Roxas' chin. "Oh, come on Roxas. Its cute when you act innocent but don't act dumb. What have you been thinking my flirting was this whole time?" He trailed his hand down Roxas' arm.

Roxas turned his head to the side, to avoid Axel's eyes. "You're never serious about anything, why should a little flirting be any different? You're just thinking weird things is all." He wanted to dismiss it as such, because this felt like it was going in a direction he really, really didn't want it to.

Axel dipped his head down and craned his neck a little to be in Roxas' line of sight. "I don't know if you've experienced anything like it yet, but I can feel my heart beating fast in my chest when I'm close to you. Haven't you ever felt that?" he asked, almost hopefully.

Roxas tried with all his might not to meet Axel's bright green eyes. There was a mess in his stomach that he couldn't identify, but he knew if he looked at Axel it would multiply, and turn into what he thought might be guilt. Along with an overwhelming feeling of stupidity that he'd never picked up on something that Axel had thought was so obvious. "Sometimes…" Roxas managed to say quietly, and he swore he heard Axel hold his breath.

"…when I'm close to Sora," he finished his sentence almost under his breath, as if he were just now making the discovery.

Axel backed off and stood up to his full height, running his fingers through his hair and the breath he had been holding came out in a large sigh. "That's what I thought," he muttered, pressing his palm to his face briefly.

"Axel, um," Roxas begun, not quite sure what to say. Axel interrupted him with what sounded like a little bit of forced laughter, and patted him on the shoulder just once. "Don't sweat it, okay?" he told him, tearing into one of the bags they had brought home.

Roxas shuffled his feet, wondering if it was appropriate for him to go home right now, or stay there. Needless to say, he didn't really want to leave. "We're still…best friends, right? Even though I don't-"

Axel gave him a playful shove. "I said don't sweat it. You are not going home till you help me put all this crap away." He proceeded to shove the box containing the dish set in his hands and gave him a short half-smile.

* * *

Sora lay on the floor in the middle of the living room, where we had collapsed as soon as he got home. Running around on the beach, sparring, and generally being rowdy with Riku had worn him out. Not to mention the short awkward conversation before they parted, where Sora had been officially labeled as the only person in history to resist Riku's charm.

Roxas entered the door and found his housemate sprawled out on the floor. He stood over him and nudged him with his foot.

"Guess we had similar problems," Roxas told him, not finding the floor very comforting right now. He remained standing.

"Then Axel did…?" Sora had suspected as much. Roxas hadn't been there to hear all the stuff he'd said when he saved his ass back then.

"Yeah," Roxas said, shrugging. "Axel was so great about it, though," he looked down at his stomach. "I guess I couldn't help feeling a little guilty."

"I know what you mean," Sora replied. He sat up and drew an imaginary target on the wall across the room. "I guess I'm the target he missed," Sora said, holding out his fingers in the shape of a gun and aiming at the invisible spot.

Roxas decided that crashing on his bed sounded way more awesome than the living room floor, and headed towards the stairs that led to his room. He wondered why Riku had come to the conclusion that he'd missed his chance with Sora. What was his reasoning? Roxas paused at the base of the stairs and turned back around. "Did Riku say anything else?"

"Yep," Sora replied, still aiming at the wall with his hand. "He told me not to miss mine."

"Hm," was all Roxas said, before turning back around and going up the stairs. Not much help there.

Sora turned a little and pointed his hand at Roxas' retreating back, closing one eye to aim. "Pow," he said, before flopping back onto the carpet with a sigh.


	9. Riku's Pretend Lovelife: Selphie

"But I HATE this shirt," Riku said into his cellphone, which happened to be crammed between his shoulder and ear. He looked at himself in the full length mirror on the back of his door. He was clad in a eye-hurting highlighter yellow shirt that Sora had gotten him demanding he 'stand out more.'

"I was trying to go for preppy, not obnoxious," Riku told Kairi as he attempted to undress while still holding his phone.

"So just put on a pair of khakis and a polo," Kairi replied. She was smart enough to at least have a hands-free in her ear while she sat on her bed painting her nails. It was somewhat odd to her in the back of her head that she was helping Riku pick out what to wear for his date with Selphie. It was even odder that she was tempted to tell him to dress as unattractive as possible.

"Kairi, I feel as if you don't care about such an important decision in my life," Riku said, and Kairi could almost hear him rolling his eyes over he phone.

"Sorry. I'm painting my nails, you know?" Kairi said, pointlessly putting another coat on when she didn't really need to.

Riku poked through the bottles of stuff that made him smell good and oh-so-manly. "You should go to the Fair too, you know. It would be fun." It would be cool to laugh at her as she screamed on the roller coaster.

"Riku don't invite me on your date," Kairi pointed out. "How tacky can you get? You'd better be nice to Selphie."

"Yeah," Riku replied. "Promise." he bypassed the stuff that made him smell like sex and went for the stuff that made him smell, in his opinion, 'rather pleasant.' "Okay, Khaki's and polo," Riku said, popping the collar cause he knew it was cooler.

"Okay, have fun," Kairi said, hanging up on him and blowing on her nails. Never mind the fact she'd painted one of them at least five times.

* * *

Selphie met Riku at the Blue gate of the fairgrounds. She waved frantically as he approached, and was on his arm the minute he was close enough. "Riku, the fair is SO COOL. You're a pretty smart guy to pick somewhere so neat!"

Riku laughed as he paid for their admission. "What can I say, I'm-"

"Ohhh look, maps!" Selphie interrupted him, grabbing one. "Wow, there's so much stuff to do. What do you wanna do first?"

Riku looked over her shoulder. He wasn't so interested in looking at cows and horses and flowers or listening to sixth graders sing songs about the nine nifty destiny islands.

Thus, he was dragged by Selphie towards the bunnies and baby chicks. Riku kept his gag reflex in check, trying to convince himself that his manliness was not being compromised in any way.

"They're SOOOOO cute!" Selphie chirped, poking in at the ears of the caged little animals.

"Yep," Riku replied, biting at a caramel apple he'd picked up on the way. "These ones are cool," he said pointing at the albino bunnies with his caramel apple. "They've got awesome pale hair like m-"

But Selphie had skipped off to see the tiny chicks and was currently completely fascinated by the ones that were just emerging from their eggs, slimy and cheeping like mad. Riku looked back at the albinos and caught their red eyes, swearing they were boring a hole into his soul. He shuddered a little and backed away.

Once Selphie's fluff curiosity was thoroughly choked, she pulled Riku towards the art exhibit. He lost her after five minutes because she only spent about two seconds looking at each piece. Riku stared at a photograph of a severely wrinkly old man with minimal amount of teeth. He shoved the rest of the scone he had been eating in his mouth and tried to think about it thoughtfully.

Riku gave up when Selphie came and found him. "Riku, there were a lot of naked ladies over there," she commented, as if she couldn't decide whether she thought this was interesting or not.

"Really?" Riku asked. "I was just looking at this…uh…old decrepit man. Isn't it great?" No one could say he didn't try to be interested in other girls interests.

Selphie made a face. "He's icky," she decided, pulling Riku away. Riku sighed. Selphie sure was cute, but she sure was a handful.

* * *

"Cotton candy!" Sora yelped, and Roxas held him back from his lunge at the stand.

"No effing WAY," he said, grabbing Sora around the middle and dragging him out of the food area. How bad would Sora be on a sugar high? Oh…it hurt Roxas' head to think about it.

"I thought we came here to go on rides?" Roxas reminded him, letting him go and pushing him in the direction of the giant ferris wheel. The sun was just setting so the rides were beginning to light up.

"Hooray!" Sora said, seeming to have forgotten all about the cotton candy. They stood in line to buy tickets while Sora excitedly checked out the rides.

"Roxas, do you like spinny ones that make you so dizzy you almost puke? Or ones that go upside down? Or ones that go REALLY fast? Oh! I have a really good idea!" Sora waited for Roxas to pay for the tickets and give him his full attention.

"What?" Roxas asked. He didn't seem to share the same enthusiasm as Sora. If he wanted heights, there was the clock tower. If he wanted thrills, well he could just run directly up the side of a skyscraper. If he wanted to get dizzy he could spin around really fast in his desk chair. They had already discussed the puking thing.

"Lets go on the roller coaster. When you're at the top, and you drop really fast, your heart beats a million miles an hour in your chest!" Sora pulled Roxas towards the towering coaster that the fairgrounds were known for.

Roxas allowed himself to be pushed in line by Sora. He surveyed the rest of the people in the line. Thirteen year olds and couples that were cuddling. The cuddling is what caught his eye. "Heart beating really fast, huh? What other times does your heart beat really fast?"

Sora thought about it for a moment. "When you're really, really afraid or nervous," Sora said. He laughed just a little and nudged Roxas. "Or, you know. When you're in loooove."

"In…love?" Roxs repeated. It felt like WAY too big of a word for him. He swallowed a little. "Uh, and how do you know you're, in love?"

Sora shrugged. "Don't really know. Never been," as if it were a country he simply hadn't visited yet. "Think I might be on the way, though," he grinned at Roxas.

Roxas lifted an eyebrow and elbowed him in the stomach. "You like someone that much and you didn't TELL me? You're a loser!"

Sora laughed and pushed him forward in the line, all the way into the waiting gate for the roller coaster. "No, I'm shy," he made an excuse.

"You are NOT shy, Sora. Don't be a liar," Roxas replied.

Sora crossed his arms. "Oh, okay. Who's the one asking questions about love, huh?"

Roxas' face started to heat up. Noooo! "I was curious!" They continued to argue as they boarded the rollercoaster and it climbed to the top. Roxas paused enough to look down. "Oh…uh…really high up…" he said, gripping the shoulder harness.

"You scared?" Sora challenged.

"No," Roxas denied.

"Heart beating fast?" Sora prodded.

"No!" Roxas replied.

That didn't stop him from screaming at the top of his lungs the entire ride. Roxas wobbled down the exit ramp, a grin plastered on his face. "That was SO EFFING COOL!" he said, hugging Sora. "You're so cool. Lets go on more!"

Sora grinned and turned pink. He was thrilled that Roxas thought he was cool. Now if he could only get him to think he was extremely, desirably attractive, too.

* * *

"What's the concert tonight?" Selphie asked, swinging her feet playfully as the two of them munched on corndogs.

Riku shrugged. "Hot Hot Heat Elevator, I think." He thought they were okay.

Selphie made a face. "What about on the Indie stage?" she prodded, leaning over as Riku stared at the program.

"Uh…Twiggy and the Leafers now, but Destiny Idol in an hour," he said, trying to mask his boredom.

Riku swore that Selphie exploded. "I LOVE singing! I want to do it! Please, Riku? Let's go!" She didn't wait for his answer before yanking him towards the Indie stage at top speed.

Two hours later, Riku was shifting uncomfortably in his hard concrete seat, an empty milkshake cup next to him. He wished for the life of him he had earplugs to drown out the excited screams from the little preteens in the audience as Selphie was crowned the next Destiny Idol. He tore at a section of his cinnamony elephant ear and sighed.

* * *

Sora rubbed Roxas' back gently as he sat with his head practically between his knees on a bench near the tilt-a-whirl. He moaned a little, squeezing his eyes tightly shut for fear that if he opened them, the ground would start spinning again.

"Told you not to go on the Spacemaster 2000," Sora said. They'd hit every ride imaginable and even though Roxas was already dizzy, he had insisted. Now here he was ready to lose his lunch all over his shoes.

Roxas moaned again and sat up slowly. "I think I'm okay now," he said, and Sora helped him off the bench.

"Lets go get some water," Sora suggested. They should lay off the rides for a little while anyway.

Sora wrapped his arm around Roxas' waist, supposedly to steady him as they headed in the direction of the games. Sora caught sight of a familiar brown flip and silvery cascade of hair.

"Riku took Selphie to the fair, huh?" he muttered, observing Selphie with a pile of stuffed animals in her arms and Riku boosting his ego by winning her yet another one.

"Yep," Roxas said. Riku sure did get around. He directed Sora away from them. Even though he knew Sora and Riku had talked, he still got that annoyed feeling when he was around.

"Hey, hey! You guys!" a familiar voice called suddenly, and Roxas felt a familiar hand grope his ass suddenly.

Sora slapped Tidus' hand away. "What's up?" he asked, observing Tidus' wild stripey shirt.

"You have to do me a huge favor," Tidus insisted, directing them towards a tent and throwing the flap open.

"Woah, woah, what? Where are we going?" Roxas asked, following reluctantly.

"The next guy on the shift just got really sick so if no ones in the tank my ass is grass! C'mon its fun anyway, take your shirts off." Tidus insisted, reaching for the edge of Roxas shirt and starting to pull it up.

Sora bat his hand away again. "He doesn't feel good. Don't make him do anything," Sora warned in a defensive tone that made Tidus back off.

"You'll do it for me Sora then won't you? Come on I won't make you undress lets go," Tidus pushed him out the other side of the tent and Roxas stood in the middle dumbfounded for a moment.

"Hey wait!" he called out, running back out the front to see Sora reluctantly climbing into a large cage and onto a small bench. The bench was suspended over a tub of water. Roxas was pretty sure this wasn't the kind of 'get water' that Sora had had in mind.

Tidus came back out a moment later with three softballs in his hand. "Thanks Sora, I owe you!" he called, climbing up onto his little pedestal.

Sora shifted on the small bench nervously. How had he gotten so easily bullied into going into a dunk tank?! Man he hoped everyone that came around had horrible aim.

"STEP right up! Come on now! Look how dry he is! You over there, come on! Only two bucks for three balls!" Tidus called out. He beckoned to the people walking by.

Roxas crossed his arms and watched Sora stare down at the water apprehensively. "Are you gonna be okay?" Roxas called out. Sora gave him a smile. One of those ones that meant 'Probably not, but its me!'

A group of girls started whispering and giggling nearby. Tidus noticed them immediately. "C'mon ladies, don't you want to have a go? He'll take his shirt off if you can dunk him!"

"What?! Tidus!" Sora tried to protest, but every one of the girls were trying to shove money into Tidus' hands.

Sora white knuckled the side of the bench. At least girls probably threw like girls. He sighed with relief every time they missed, and flinched if any one of them knocked it against the target. Unfortunately, they couldn't seem to throw it hard enough. "Nice try!" he called out when someone almost got it.

"Awwww…" they all practically said in unison at how cute Sora was. Tidus frowned and handed Roxas his wad of change. "Take care of the buyage for a second," he said, pulling him up onto the platform.

"Wha- Tidus?!" Roxas said, as he was bombarded with bills shoved in his face by the rabid fan girls. "Hey, will you take off your shirt too if I buy a ball?" Roxas simply glared and handed them their change.

"Sora, dude. None of this 'nice try' crap. You have to provoke them," Tidus told him from the front of the tank.

Sora shook his head. "Are you a stupid moron? I don't WANT to get wet!"

Tidus shook his head harder. "You have to go down man, and if you call insults at them they'll buy balls just to dunk you. Tell them they suck and throw like girls."

Sora frowned. "They ARE girls."

Tidus nodded approvingly and stepped away for the next customer.

The girl missed her first ball and Sora practically yelled, "What are you, senile?! Hit the target!"

Tidus grinned and gave a thumbs up, leaning against the safe side of the cage. Roxas glared at him for not doing his job.

"I must be seeing in slow motion, did you throw the ball?" Sora called at one of the girls.

"Target isn't moving, why can't you hit it?"

"I'm falling asleep up here! You call that a throw?"

Sora's voice caught Riku's ear as he walked by with Selphie, who was barely able to see over her tower of prizes. Riku was licking the chocolate from a cow chip off his fingers. He spotted Sora sitting in a dunk tank that appeared to be run inadvertently by Roxas as Tidus watched on and laughed.

"Hey Selphie, lets go to the dunk tank. I wanna play," Riku said, putting a hand on her back and gently directing her over there.

"Really? Oh! Its Sora!" Selphie exclaimed as Riku approached Roxas and held two bucks out to him.

Roxas frowned at him. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I want to play this game," Riku replied, shaking his money at Roxas.

"No," Roxas flat out refused. Riku would dunk Sora on the first try and then Sora would have to take his shirt off. Not that he minded that part particularly.

Tidus took over his job again momentarily. "Don't be stingy, Roxas. Customers are customers," he took Riku's two bucks and handed him three balls.

Riku stepped up to the line and Sora scooted back on the bench. "Riku?! What are you doing?!"

"Plug your nose, Sora," Riku said with a smirk, throwing the ball as hard as he could right at the target.

Sora went down with a yelp and a splash, feeling the freezing water soak him through immediately. He came up sputtering and climbed slowly back onto the bench. Almost instantaneously, Riku slammed the ball at the target again, sending Sora back into the water. He climbed out a second time and Riku gave his third ball to the girl behind him.

Riku laughed as Sora glared fiercely at him. "I know, Sora. You'll get me back. Bye!" Selphie promptly dragged him off in the direction of something interesting she thought she saw in the gap between a pink tiger and a long legged frog.

"Take it off, Sora," Tidus told him, and Sora rolled his eyes. It was colder with his soaking shirt clinging to him anyway.

Roxas was about to tell him that he didn't have to do it, but he couldn't make the words leave his mouth. He couldn't make his eyes leave Sora's form as he slid his hands up the bottom of his shirt and stretched up, stripping it off over his head.

A very distinct "Nyahhhh!" could be heard from the group of girls, and Roxas looked over at Tidus who was smirking appreciatively. "Stop looking," he said sternly, shoving the change money at him distractingly.

"Okay, loverboy," Tidus muttered, climbing back up on the tower and ignoring the sharp glare from Roxas.

Sora shook his hair and water flew every which way, dripping onto his shoulders and rolling down his bare chest. The water glistened on his tan skin in the bright light that illuminated the dunk tank. Roxas felt his face heat up again and his stomach felt as if it were on the tilt-a-whirl.

Roxas learned something about Sora that night as he carefully helped him towel off in the tent behind the dunk tank, not able to resist a few supposed 'accidental' touches to his shoulder and back. Sora was inexcusably attractive.

Riku learned something about Selphie that night as he lay on his bed, whining to Kairi over the phone about what a horrible stomach ache he had. Never, EVER let her near a jump rope contest.


	10. Late Night Storm

Riku took one week off dating, and he regretted it. He had planned to give himself a break from being 'attached' before Halloween. He sat down at the lunch table and set his backpack atop it, making a huge 'thunk' that rattled all the trays and silverware in the vicinity.

"That thing must weigh a ton!" Sora exclaimed, sizing up Riku's bag. "What's in there?" He immediately reached for the latch and popped it open.

"Roxas' brain capacity," Riku replied, unscrewing the top of his Sprite. "That's why its so dense."

"Haha," Roxas said sarcastically, using his spork to fling a pea at Riku, who artfully blocked it with his hand.

Sora caught the few that tried to escape as a whole stack of cards cascaded out onto the table. "Are they love notes?" he asked suspiciously.

Kairi reached over and grabbed a few. "They're party invitations," she said, almost relieved. "Halloween? You didn't even open any of them."

Riku shrugged. "The minute they found out I was single they rushed to my locker to shove them in I think," he said boredly, starting to eat his lunch.

Namine carefully opened one in a cute little orange envelope. It looked like it had been graphic design student-ed to death. "You're invited to Rachel Spero's skin only Halloween party! Come dressed, or UNdressed in your Halloween costumes!" she read aloud.

"What a hooker," Kairi said distastefully, pulling the picture of the cute junior dressed in a skanky pirate outfit. "PS: Riku you should dress as a zombie?"

Sora pulled at his cheeks and stuck his tongue out, moaning grossly. "Zooombie. Bleeding from all orifices!"

"Its because she wants you to rip your shirt off and eat her face," Roxas replied, flinging peas at Sora until he stopped making nasty faces.

"Look, every girl in the school invited you to a party, are you gonna go to any of them?" Kairi asked.

Riku flipped his hair. "Why would I need to when I'm having my own party?" His house was giant, was there a reason to deprive everyone who ever dreamed of being cool from attending? Never.

"Can I come?!" Sora asked excitedly.

Riku flicked him in the forehead. "Duh, moron." He rolled his eyes. "You guys are all invited. Except maybe not Roxas," he was joking. Mostly.

"Like I'd want to come. How are you going to fit everyone in your house with your ego in the way?" Roxas retorted.

Sora punched Roxas in the shoulder. "It'll be cool," he insisted. Roxas ignored him.

Riku smirked. He loved getting under Roxas' skin. Partially for the fact that jealousy was something that Riku found hard to let go of, and because he looked out for Sora as his best friend. If he had to give him up to Roxas, than he was going to be hard on him.

* * *

All the lights in Sora's room were on, and he sat spinning around mindlessly in his desk chair. He pushed off the carpet with his bare feet and spun his pajama-ed self around and around until he felt dizzy enough to stop. Nevermind that it was 3:45am and his bed was waiting rather invitingly with the sheets turned down. Sora looked at it and sighed. He knew the second he climbed into it and turned the lights off, the room would be illuminated by the violent flashes and crashes of the thunderstorm outside, and he wouldn't be able to sleep anyway.

Sora rubbed his face and got up out of his chair with a little wobble. He opened the door to his bedroom quietly, not wanting to wake his Mom or Roxas, and crept downstairs. Sora got a glass of milk and drank it, slowly, jumping a little every time lightening flashed across the tile on the floor. "You're an IDIOT," he told himself. Sora wasn't supposed to be scared of anything.Yet here he was, unable to sleep. Stupid.

Flipping the kitchen light off, Sora headed back up the stairs with a heavy yawn. A diffused yellow light peeking out from under Roxas' door caught his attention. _'He's not up…is he?'_ There's no way Roxas was afrai- bothered by the thunderstorm. Sora stood outside his door and debated going inside. Knocking would wake him up if he was asleep, but if he just opened the door a little and checked it would probably be okay.

Sora turned the knob very slowly and pushed open Roxas' door. He was immediately hit with cool air and shivered. The only light was coming from the lava lamp that Sora had given him, and anything that flooded in through the window. Roxas was kneeling on his bed, elbows on the windowsill. His window was wide open despite the driving rain, the wind whipping the curtains all around. Sora clutched his arms and closed the door quietly, padding over to Roxas' bed silently.

Sora knelt on the bed with one knee and Roxas felt the shift. He turned around, a faint smile like a memory was still on his face. "Hey, Sora," he said very softly.

"Why are you still up?" Sora asked, climbing all the way onto the bed and kneeling beside Roxas. He tucked his feet under his rear and sat on them to keep them from getting chilled.

Roxas turned back to the view. One thing about living on an island, almost everyone had a great view of the ocean. The richer folks actually lived further inland, where the ground was geologically more stable. From his window, Roxas could watch the forks of lightening rip across the sky. They were followed closely with the soothing deep rumble of thunder. "Just watching the storm," Roxas replied. "Want to watch it with me?"

Sora scooted closer to Roxas, partially to conserve warmth and partially because he didn't like the storm. "I guess…" he flinched as lightening lit up the area, and couldn't help letting out a small whine when the thunder arrived.

Roxas looked at Sora sort of hunched next to him. "Are you okay?" he asked, quietly as if his voice were any louder it would interrupt the sounds of the storm. The small spasms of Sora's body hadn't gone unnoticed.

"I'm fine," Sora insisted. If Roxas could sit around watching a thunderstorm, Sora could too without problems. "I don't see why you like it. The lightening is all violent and the thunder is LOUD and the rain sounds kind of angry on the roof," it made him pout a little just thinking about it.

Roxas shrugged, not taking his eyes off the display outside. "In Twilight Town, you could sit around all day waiting for the night, and it would never come. So I guess I still find it fascinating. In the World that Never Was, there were almost always storms and rain. I'm used to it."

Sora nodded a little. "There are a lot of storms here in the winter. You'll love it. Not in the summer, though. So you'll have to adjust." There was a deep rumble and Sora shuddered.

"Why are you still up, Sora?" Roxas asked. "Its kind of late."

"Uhhh…" Sora said, shifting a little. "I just couldn't sleep is all," he said, shrugging as if it weren't a big deal.

Roxas lifted an eyebrow at Sora, not believing him. Sora watched the lightning flash across his face and light up his eyes electrically. He stared at Roxas' face in the bluish light of the late night storm for an undetermined period of time. It took Sora a minute to realize he had a handful of his pajama pants and was clenching and unclenching it in his fist. Roxas cocked his head to the side a little and blinked. He debated waving his hand in front of Sora's face. Did he stop breathing just now?

"Sor-" he started to say, but there was a close flash of lightening and a loud 'BOOM!' Sora yelped and grabbed onto Roxas. Instinctively, he pulled Roxas backwards with him, away from the open window and the offending storm. Roxas felt himself lose balance and they both landed on his bed with a quiet 'foof'.

Not wanting to squish Sora, Roxas propped himself up a little and looked down at Sora under him. His heart rate started to increase again, something which he had to admit thrilled him. He loved being able to hear proof of his existence pounding in his ears, and Sora seemed to facilitate that a lot for him. Roxas managed to keep his face from turning red. He was adjusting, able to hold back a blush now. Apparently unlike Sora who had red streaked across his face at this moment.

Sora stared up at Roxas, feeling his breath catch in his throat more than once or twice. He wanted to laugh a little embarrassedly and maybe say 'oops', but he couldn't make the words come out of his mouth. His fingers twitched, wanting to reach up and pull Roxas back down. Sora felt the tug of the comforter at his shoulder as Roxas clenched the blanket in his fist. Roxas was framed by the open window, his hair gently jostled by the wind. Sora forgot the sound of the rain attacking the roof and only heard his slow breathing and steady 'thump' in his chest.

Roxas swallowed. He was feeling that pull, that impulse grow in his stomach. For the first time, he was terrified to obey it. Roxas sat completely still, confused over this new feeling he was getting. His thoughts slowly melting, his body slowly warming, and all of Sora's features becoming soft in the light of the little rocket ship. Roxas reached up to brush Sora's bangs out of the way of his eyes.

"Um, Sora? What if-" Roxas started to say, but was interrupted by a flash of lightening that made Sora flinch visibly.

Roxas leaned down. "Are you afraid?" he whispered.

"No," Sora replied, and the thunder came loudly. Sora squeezed his eyes shut.

Roxas sighed and sat up. The first time he'd ever felt the urge to completely take advantage of someone, and the storm he had been enjoying ruined it for him. "Get under the covers," Roxas instructed, kneeling up and pulling the window closed.

"What?" Sora asked, sort of dumbfounded.

"I said get under the covers, Sora," Roxas replied, latching the window and pulling the string on the blinds.

"Why?" Sora asked, still confused as to what was going on.

Roxas narrowed his eyebrows at him. "Now, Sora," he said, sternly, pulling the curtains closed. Sora obeyed him and pushed his blankets down so he could get under them. He watched Roxas stand up and hop off the bed. "Scoot," he commanded, lifting the covers and crawling under with Sora.

"Because its late and I'm tired," Roxas answered his previous question. He flipped onto his back and separated his pillows, giving one to Sora. Roxas then reached for the cord on the lava lamp, clicking it off. Sora immediately scooted closer to him the minute the room was plunged into darkness. He wanted to just grab a hold of Roxas for dear life, but he didn't know if it would annoy him.

"You're a wimp," Roxas said, closing his eyes.

"Am not," Sora protested. "I just…" He wasn't afraid of the dark or anything stupid like that. He wasn't AFRAID. It just bothered him was all.

It was quiet save the rain, and Roxas had almost fallen asleep when the next round of lightening and thunder came. He felt Sora tremble next to him and sigh, irritated. Roxas rolled his eyes, he'd never get to sleep if Sora kept this up. Guess just sharing the bed wasn't enough.

Roxas turned on his side and reached out, touching Sora's elbow first. He ran his hand up Sora's arm until he reached his shoulder, squeezing it gently and pushing on his back to get him to move closer. Sora's arms immediately went around Roxas' middle as if they were meant to be there. After just a bit of shifting of their limbs, the two settled down in a comfortable position. Roxas observed that they fit together perfectly if Roxas stretched this way and Sora curled that way. "Go to sleep," Roxas whispered, rubbing Sora's back gently as the sounds of the storm continued to invade his room.

Sora closed his eyes, finding it easy to make himself relax, his legs tangled with Roxas' and his head lying on his chest. He focused on listening to Roxas' heartbeat under his ear instead of the weather and finally fell asleep in a matter of minutes.


	11. Riku's Pretend Lovelife: Yuffie

Riku was on his front porch sticky tacking spider webs around his front door Friday night. He figured he should probably do it before it got too dark outside. Riku slurped noisily on the half eaten peach that was crammed in his mouth. It was a little overripe and was threatening to drip down his chin if he wasn't careful.

Riku stood back and surveyed his work of the front porch, deciding that not only was he too lazy to take it any further, but figured Kairi would be there in about twenty minutes and if she didn't like it she could fix it herself.

"Hey Riku!" some sort of voice that was offending in nature called out to him from the end of his driveway. He turned around to look and saw Seifer standing there with several other ghetto-ly dressed classmates. Riku went down his steps and out to the end of the driveway to meet them. "What do you half-wits want?" he asked in a could-care-less tone.

"We'll be sure to think of you and your LAME party with your LOSER friends while we get smashed at Brandi's lakehouse tonight," Seifer said, and all his cronies laughed. He proceeded to violently kick one of the two pumpkins that flanked Riku's driveway. He started to stalk away with the rest of his buddies.

Riku looked down at the damaged pumpkin, its carefully carved face now bashed in. Riku made a sour face. It was Sora's pumpkin, too. He was going to be upset when he saw it. Riku looked at the peach in his hand. Meh, he didn't like peaches all that much anyway. Riku lifted his arm and chucked it at the back of Seifer's head. It knocked his stupid beanie askew with a splat and Riku retreated into his house with a muffled snicker while Seifer bullied his friends into not laughing hysterically at him.

* * *

Kairi let herself in Riku's house just as Riku was done decorating the downstairs and setting up the sound system for mingling. He was currently on the back porch dropping shiny red apples into a barrel full of water. He himself wouldn't get his nice hair wet sticking his face in a barrel of water to bob for apples, but there were plenty of people who would love it.

"Hey!" Kairi said, opening the back door and smiling at him. "Nice job with the house. Spooky," she complimented.

Riku dropped the last apple in and pushed her back into the house. "Where's your costume?" he asked, surveying her jeans and tee.

"What do you mean? I came as a high school student," she said. Riku gave her a push and she laughed. "And what are you dressed as?" Riku was still wearing the same thing he had worn to school that day.

"A male model," Riku replied and glared at her when she laughed hysterically. "Come work magic in the kitchen," he demanded.

Kairi walked into Riku's kitchen and opened the fridge, seeing that his mom had picked up a bunch of party trays. She knew exactly where everything was in Riku's kitchen, easily setting out a party spread on his counter and table. She gave him orders to set out napkins and plates and cups. "Do you have a marker? You should put it out so people can write their names on their cups," she suggested. The last thing she wanted was someone gross drinking out of her cup.

"Got it," he said, finding a sharpie in the junk drawer. He picked up a cup and wrote 'Sexiest guy here' on it. He showed it to Kairi.

Kairi smirked. "Oh, is that Cloud's cup?" she joked, and dodged when Riku threw it at her.

Riku checked the clock as Kairi set the punchbowl on the table. "C'mon, lets get changed," he said, heading upstairs to where his room was. Kairi grabbed her bag and followed. "Remind me to lock my door. The last thing I want is suspicious activities in my room." Ew. He quickly pushed the thoughts of random people doing inappropriate things on his bed.

Riku didn't think twice before he stripped his shirt off. He turned his back to Kairi, his outfit laid out on his bed, and she did the same. The two of them had known each other since they were six, neither of them were shy to change in front of the other. Riku buttoned his tight leather pants and pulled his shirt on over his shoulders. "Hey, can you tie this thingy for me?" he asked, buttoning up his shirt and picking up a ribbon. He turned around and followed the curve of Kairi's hip with his eyes as she pushed her dress down over it. He immediately felt like a pervert for doing so and forcefully remained composed.

"Sure," she said, smoothing out her little black dress and taking the ribbon from him. She tied it artfully around his neck. He didn't let his gaze trace down her plunging neckline. Absolutely DID NOT. "Nice dress," he commented, pushing fake fangs onto his teeth and tying a sweeping cape around his shoulders.

"Thanks," Kairi replied, pulling on a witch's hat. "I see you didn't go for the zombie after all. And I was so looking forward to being fed upon."

Riku grinned widely, licking his lips. "I think we can still arrange that, my dear," he said in his best sexy vampire accent. He always preferred British vampires to Romanian ones. "Here, just lend me your neck," she laughed and pushed him away as he went for her exposed neck jokingly.

Riku's doorbell rang signaling the beginning of the party and the two of them chased each other down the stairs.

* * *

Sora adjusted his police badge as himself and Roxas hopped out of the car and he locked the door. He reattached his keyring to his belt, where he had so cleverly put his house key and car keys. "Its so policeman-y!" he had exclaimed earlier that night, jangling them at Roxas.

"Hey! What happened to my pumpkin?!" Sora exclaimed, bending down and poking at the gaping hole that use to be its cheerful face. Roxas situated his Royal Mountie hat on his head and shrugged. "Some punk kids must have kicked it over," he said. People were seriously effers.

The two of them went into Riku's house and Sora ran off almost instantaneously. There were so many people there, and although Roxas recognized a ton of them, he was only actually acquainted with a few of them. He sighed, knowing that it was going to be like this. Riku's house was huge and he set to exploring, figuring that Sora wouldn't even miss him. He was the most social person that Roxas had ever met, and there was everyone that Sora had ever been friends with now at his disposal. There was Cloud, writing his name on his punch cup. Tifa talking to Aerith out on the porch. Roxas headed downstairs, and spotted Cid tampering with the sound system. He breathed a sigh of relief when he finally spotted a shock of red hair; Axel seated next to Namine on a couch. Roxas pushed past Leon and plopped himself down in an empty spot.

"Hello, officer," Axel greeted, and Roxas kicked him in the shin. "Who in the world are you supposed to be?" he asked, of Axel's purple coat and top hat.

"I'm Willy Wonka," he said, as if Roxas would know what he was talking about. When met with a blank stare, he shrugged and said, "I just watched the movie last week."

"I'm little Bo-Peep," Namine offered, keeping her knee high stocking legs closed as her skirt was a little short. Her outfit was ruffly and cute, though. "Its from a Children's nursery rhyme."

"I'm Canadian," Roxas informed them. "Whatever that means. Sora just made me wear it. He ran off the minute we got here, probably chatting it up with every person he finds about everything under the sun." He sighed. Sora had insisted the night was going to be fun, but Roxas didn't see how a night spent without Sora was any fun at all.

Axel got up off the couch. "Come on upstairs and eat some stuff. You'll feel better," he insisted, pulling Roxas off the couch.

"Its not like I'm grumpy," Roxas said, particularly grumpily.

Namine stood up and grabbed her crook. She hooked it around Roxas' arm and pulled him towards the stairs with a giggle. "Don't lie. Punch and chips will cheer you up."

Roxas followed them upstairs reluctantly.

* * *

Riku waited patiently holding the tail of Yuffie's ninja headband out of the way as she bobbed for apples. "Man, I cannot get one!" she said, repositioning herself over the barrel.

"Stick your whole face in there, Yuffie," Riku said. "I've got the headband."

Yuffie reached over and punched him in the stomach, probably a little harder than she thought. "Can it, Riku. And look away as I magically cheat."

"Yes ma'am," he said, making a show of covering his eyes. Yuffie picked an apple up and shoved it in her mouth. "Tadaa!" she said, through a face full of apple.

Riku dropped her headband and clapped. "Great, now you look like a roasted piggy," he smirked.

"Why you-! Get over here, I'll shove this thing up your nose!" she reached into the barrel and splashed him with the water before chasing him back inside the house.

Kairi watched them run past and play chicken around the table before Riku caught Yuffie around the middle and hauled her off across the room.

"You having fun?" Namine asked, perching lightly on the armrest of the chair Kairi was sitting in.

Kairi smiled at her winningly. "Yeah. Did you get enough to eat?" she tried to change the subject, even though Namine saw her eyes drift back over to where Riku and Yuffie were engaged in a violent game of ping-pong.

Namine crossed her legs and bobbed her foot up and down, ignoring Kairi's question. Riku whipped his cape off and pushed up his sleeves to better challenge Yuffie who was currently kicking his butt. "Lots of people here, huh?"

"Yeah," Kairi replied dully.

Namine spotted Sora trotting by and grabbed him by the sleeve. She put her finger to her lips as he opened his mouth to ask her what she wanted. His eyes fell on Kairi and he traced her gaze to Riku and Yuffie.

"Riku looks pretty cool in his costume, huh?" Namine asked.

"Yeah," Kairi repeated, shifting in her seat.

"Pretty hott in those leather pants, huh?" Namine pressed. Sora lifted an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah," Kairi said automatically. They were tight, too. Half the room must have noticed his ass as he bent over the pig pong table to get the ball that had gotten stuck at the net.

"You like him, don't you?" Namine asked, not changing her tone of voice.

"Yeah," Kairi replied. Wait, what?

"Kairi!" Sora exclaimed, intrigued by this newfound knowledge and impressed with Namine for somehow so easily extracting it. He immediately sat down on the other arm of the chair.

"What? Sora, what?" Kairi asked, confused as she looked from Namine to Sora and back again. "What are you, I mean. Namine!" Kairi was obviously flustered.

Sora laughed. "Don't worry, we won't tell," he promised, winking. He was tempted to blurt out that Riku was pretty interested in Kairi, too, but he figured that would be kind of unfair to Riku. Sora and Namine shared a look before Aerith walked by and caught Sora's attention. He followed after her, striking up a conversation about her flower business. Namine was beckoned from across the room by Axel, and she left Kairi trying to discreetly hide her blush.

* * *

Roxas sighed for the umpteenth time, checking yet another room for Sora. He walked past Riku, Yuffie and Selphie tangled up on the twister board. Riku looked like he was about to lose it, Selphie was only supported by her back on Riku's leg, and Yuffie appeared to have been hiding her contortionist abilities all along.

The doorbell rang as Roxas passed it and no one inside the party seemed to notice. He shrugged and opened the door cautiously. Upon seeing who was on the stoop, he absolutely flung it open the rest of the way, causing it to bounce on the doorknob stopper.

"Hayner! Pence! Olette!" Roxas cried, surveying the three friends that stood just outside. What in the world were they doing here?!

"Hey Roxas," Hayner greeted brightly, slapping fives with him. "Figured we'd stop by since you have to be totally bored without us."

Roxas smiled so wide his face hurt. There was no way they could 'stop by' from such a distance! Finally, some highly missed familiar faces that he'd really been longing to see.

"Well, let us in, silly," Olette said, and Roxas immediately moved out of the way to let the three in.

"You guys, this is so great," Roxas shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked on his feet a little as they politely took their shoes off. "Did Riku invite you or what?"

Pence nodded. "Yeah, he did. We figured we'd keep it a surprise, though."

Roxas certainly was surprised. He decided he would give Riku a break for a little bit for actually doing something this cool.

"So what's up, man? How's school? We got such a bad grade on that summer homework," Hayner said, laughing.

Roxas couldn't keep his mouth from running in every direction. The four of them must have just stood there talking in the entryway for at least an hour, before Pence decided he was hungry and they moved to the food table. Roxas didn't realize how much he'd missed the three until now.

Sora found Roxas easily and approached the group, intent on joining in their conversation. He stood there for a minute, waiting for a good time to say hi, but it never really came. Roxas seemed so adamant about what they were talking about. One of the other four practically finished his every sentence, launching into another conversation about something else. Finally, Olette noticed he had been standing there for some time.

"Hey, Sora," she said, touching Hayner's arm to interrupt him.

"And so I was like-wha? Oh! Hey, Sora," he said. "Long time."

Roxas looked at Sora pointedly. "Is something up?" he asked, as if Sora had no real reason to be there unless there was something he wanted to say in specific.

"Oh uh…we were gonna play poker soon…" Sora trailed off, sort of losing his enthusiasm for being there at Roxas' blatant ignoring of his presence.

"Okay, I might come later," Roxas replied, before turning back to Hayner, listening intently as he launched back into talking about the field trip to the zoo where he fed a polar bear some sea salt ice cream when no one was looking.

Sora sort of smiled awkwardly and retreated, not quite sure where to go. He had talked to everyone here for a significant amount of time already, and was sort of looking forward to spending the rest of the night hanging out with Roxas. Unfortunately, Roxas seemed to care less about where he was or what he was doing. Sora fixed a pout on his face.

* * *

Yuffie stood up on Riku's coffee table and he put his hands on her waist to support her. His parents would kill him if she broke the little table. What was her deal with jumping onto furniture anyway?

"STRIP POKER! CLEAR OFF THE TABLE!" she called out, and leapt off the coffee table onto the couch, then from the couch to the armchair, then directly into one of the kitchen chairs, perching on it as if she were ready to jump again at a moments notice.

Riku sighed and followed her, helping Kairi who had begun to clear off the dining room table. The chairs were quickly filled by Axel, who practically carried the embarrassed Namine over and plopped her in one, Sora, reluctantly Roxas, and Tidus who bribed Selphie for one. Kairi and Riku took a seat and Riku threw a deck of cards in the middle of the table.

"Okay guys, everyone take your socks and shoes off. Lets have a…" he looked around and surveyed the various outfits. Kairi's dress was only one piece, but Tidus wasn't wearing a shirt under his fireman suspenders. "Four pieces of clothing start. Hats can count if you need them to."

Yuffie dealt and everyone looked at each other slyly over the top of their cards. After a second, Sora shouted "Yes!"

"Sora!" Riku said, rolling his eyes and folding with everyone else.

"What?!" Sora complained, not getting why everyone was suddenly giving up.

"Ever heard of poker face, shorty?" Axel said sarcastically, plucking Sora's cards out of his hands and throwing them back towards Yuffie to redistribute them.

Sora stuck his tongue out at Axel. What a meanie.

Twenty minutes later, Sora was sitting there in just his boxers. Tidus had his suspenders off, and Kairi was glad she wasn't easily embarrassed, sitting there in just her bra and panties. Axel and Riku had lost their shirts and the redness of Namine's face as she tried to hide behind the table with no skirt on didn't particularly compliment her pale hair. The only people still fully dressed were Yuffie and Roxas.

"Haha! Take that, you suckers!" Yuffie announced, laying out her two pair of kings and aces.

Riku grumbled as he stood up to unbutton his pants, and Sora groaned. "Maaan, I'm completely out," he sat back in his chair.

"You can take your boxers off if you want," Tidus suggested, eyes fixated on Sora's bear stomach as he stretched in his chair. Roxas kicked Tidus violently under the table, making a threatening face at him.

Riku pushed his pants off his hips and Kairi distracted herself by standing up and gathering her clothes. "Come on, Sora. You and I are both out."

"If you guys want to, you could go grab some more soda from the store," Riku suggested, putting his arms up behind his head comfortably.

"Sure," Sora replied, pulling his pants on clumsily. "Maybe I can trick-or-treat and get free candy, too! Yeah!" he psyched himself up for it, heading for the door before his shirt was even fully buttoned. "Come on Kairi! Mini snickers and Three Musketeers!"

Sora was out the door as fast as Kairi could get dressed, and she ran out behind him with her shoes still in her hand calling for Sora to wait.


	12. Back Off!

Kairi was thankful that they lived in a tropical area. It may be the end of October, but she felt perfectly comfortable in her little black dress without a jacket.

"At least we got out of there before Riku took his pants off," she muttered.

Sora smirked at her. "You should just ask him out," he decided. Kairi rolled her eyes at him.

"First of all, I'm too traditional for that. Girls don't ask guys out. Second of all, Riku's busy with his little project to date the whole school. I'd feel bad for interrupting him instead of supporting him. Thirdly, the last thing I want is to get mauled by the entire female population of this island. Don't think that every girl he's dated hasn't confronted the others, trying to find out if he actually showed interest in anyone." It was like a weird little club, actually. A club of gossiping high school girls that had all had their shot at Riku and missed.

"Did he?" Sora asked. "Show interest in any of them?" Riku hadn't been really forthcoming about the details of his pretend lovelife. He ignored it, and when Sora brought it up, pretended not to care and changed the subject.

Kairi shook her head. "No one has landed a second date with him, and he certainly hasn't kissed anyone yet," she shrugged. Namine had said they just didn't have much in common, Selphie had called Riku boring, and a few other girls he dated in the past voiced the fact that they had never met someone so full of themselves.

"Personally, I think he's hopeless," she said, adjusting her witch's hat. "Its too hard to deal with his attitude if you aren't used to it." Plainly put, most girls just couldn't or wouldn't put up with him.

"But you can," Sora prodded as they crossed the street and turned down a familiar shortcut to the grocery store. "Riku needs someone like you, or specifically, you."

Kairi gave Sora a little push. "Stop it, Sora. I'm not taking advice from someone who won't even make a move on someone he's so blatantly attracted to."

Sora turned a little red. "Roxas is still adjusting." It would be horrible for Sora to try anything while Roxas was still figuring out how his emotions worked. Besides the fact that he was impossible to read, because he hadn't yet learned what was socially appropriate yet.

The two turned onto a quiet residential street, and could see the blaring sign of the grocery store across a few houses. Sora looked around for a house that he could at least try and trick-or-treat at, when three teenagers suddenly burst out from a backyard, laughing hysterically.

Sora took hold of Kairi's arm and directed her out of their way. He didn't want any trouble and she paid them no mind at all. Despite their efforts to walk on the opposite side of the street and avoid looking at them, the trio started laughing as they saw Sora and Kairi approach.

"Hey, how are you guys tonight?" one of the guys asked, nudging the guy next to him.

"Fine thanks," Sora said with a bright smile, putting his arm around Kairi's waist and pulling her closer. They didn't stop walking, especially since Sora noticed the guys start to cross the street to intercept them.

"You guys coming from a party or what?" the guy who appeared to be the ringleader asked. The three of them fanned out, blocking Sora and Kairi's path.

"Yeah. We're just heading home, actually," Kairi said with a polite smile.

"I like your costume," one of the guys said in a perverted manner, pulling her hat off with one movement. He put it on his head and the other guy laughed at him.

"Uh, thanks," Kairi responded, reaching down and tugging at her skirt a little, wishing she wasn't showing so much leg right now as the three seemed to be rather enjoying it.

"Yeah so, goodnight then," Sora said, pulling Kairi out towards the road so they could get away.

One of the guys grabbed Kairi's wrist and spun her around, Sora losing his grip on her. "You should come back with us to this party. Its really cool." His hand trailed down her bare shoulder and she shivered, turning her head away from the scent of alcohol on his breath.

"Actually, we're expected home so-" Sora started to say and reached for Kairi when one of the guys intercepted his arm and twisted it behind his back, putting the other hand on his shoulder and pushing. It hurt somewhat and he tried to struggle immediately. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Kairi pulled at her wrist. "Sora! Get off of me," she tried to yank her wrist away, but the guy just grabbed her other arm, squeezing so hard he probably put fingerprints on her skin.

"Hey, you guys get rid of that kid and I'll escort our lady friend here to the party," the guy holding Kairi captive said, sniffing at her hair creepily. "You smell good," he drawled out, a perverted look in his eyes.

"Sure thing," the guy holding Sora's arm said, and Sora narrowed his eyebrows. It didn't bother him that all three guys were a good several SEVERAL inches taller than him and had more visible muscles.

"No its not a sure thing, let go of her before I kick your guys' asses," Sora threatened, pulling at his arm. He was pretty stuck.

All three of the guys stared at him and burst into laughter. The ringleader started to drag Kairi off and the guy behind Sora twisted his arm painfully.

"I said let go you jerk," Sora said, bringing his foot down hard on the guy's toes. It worked beautifully and he released his grip long enough for Sora to elbow him in the gut. He coughed and doubled over, and Sora took this opportunity to kick the other guy in the knees as he stood there dumbfounded.

"Kairi!" Sora called out, whirring around to see that she had successfully kneed her captivator in the crotch. Good girl.

Unfortunately, the three were only momentarily disabled. Sora pushed Kairi towards the grocery store. "Run. Go run and hide," he instructed.

"Sora-" she started.

"I said run NOW," and he watched her take off down the street. Sora sighed in relief. Thank goodness Kairi was fast.

"Go get her!" the leader of the trio barked at one of the guys. He nodded and made to take off, but Sora stopped him via throwing his shoulder into the guy's chest, knocking him onto the ground.

Sora backed up a little and went into a defensive stance. He could dodge really easily, but against three guys bigger than him he knew he couldn't win. Sora put his hand on his chest to try and stop his heart from being absolutely terrified. Even though it wasn't very manly, Sora knew his best option was to find a point in which he could safely run away.

The first guy threw a punch at him and he ducked, turning to kick him in the back of the knees. He stumbled heavily and Sora turned his attention to the second guy, dodging his punch as well. Okay, so far so good. Unfortunately, by the time the third guy came after him, he'd forgotten about the first. Sora felt a foot connect with his back and he stumbled forward right into the fist of the tallest and biggest assailant.

The three laughed hysterically as Sora managed to keep his balance. He went back into his defensive stance. He couldn't run yet, Kairi had to get safely away first. "C'mon, what? Is that it?" he taunted, knowing it was probably stupid, but not caring.

The biggest of the three smirked and cracked his knuckles as they advanced on Sora. He was on the ground in a matter of minutes, taking care to not hit his head on the pavement when he fell. Sora suffered a kick to the stomach, and another one. All three of the guys had to get their kicks in as they hurled insults at his injured form.

The laughter in Sora's ears was replaced with the sounds of sirens, and the swearing of the teenagers as they took off through a nearby yard, scrambling over the fence to get away. Sora just lay still on the ground, trying to focus on breathing and not on the throbbing from his eye, or the ache of his ribs. He heard Kairi's voice before he closed his eyes for a bit, just glad that she was okay.

* * *

After punching Axel for teasing Namine, who was quite clearly embarrassed about being practically naked, Roxas found Tidus snapping his suspenders back in place out on the back porch. Roxas slipped out the door, closing it behind him. No one else was out there, which was great for him. 

"Dude, good game. You're hardcore," Tidus complimented him, noticing Roxas hadn't put his shirt back on.

"Thanks. Can It talk to you?" Roxas requested, figuring this was the polite way to engage in a serious conversation with a person you had an issue with.

"We're talking now, what's up?" Tidus asked curiously.

Roxas paused. "My face is up here," he said, pointing to his head. Tidus needed to stop staring at his exposed stomach.

Tidus laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, I can't help it. You've got the world's flattest stomach."

Roxas rolled his eyes, glad that he didn't handle compliments by being embarrassed anymore. "Look, I just want to know what your deal with Sora is."

"Deal?" Tidus asked, cocking an eyebrow. "He's hott. And maybe I like him a little. We've known each other since grade school."

Roxas felt irritated immediately. "I realize he's hott, but-"

"Oh, you do? Oh, that's a big surprise," Tidus replied sarcastically.

"What?" Roxas asked, taking a step towards him. He hadn't known how this was going to go, but he didn't expect Tidus to be a jackass about it.

"You should leave Sora to those of us who actually have the guts to act on our attraction," Tidus said pointedly.

Roxas' fists clenched and unclenched at his sides. He didn't intend to 'leave' Sora to anyone. "Are you calling me a wimp?"

Tidus pat Roxas on the shoulder briefly. "Well, yes. You obviously have a thing for Sora, judging by how mad you are at me right now, but you won't do anything about it," he pointed out.

"I AM doing something about it. I'm telling you to back off," Roxas kept his voice just inside the threatening range.

"Okay, then what? You go along without doing anything or telling him. How's that going to work out for you?" Tidus stared directly at him.

Roxas was even more angry that Tidus seemed to know exactly what he was talking about, while Roxas was making childish threats and losing his temper. He bit his lip. "And what AM I supposed to do?" He had no idea how to 'act on his attraction' as Tidus had called it.

Tidus shrugged. "What do you want to do?" he asked. Roxas stared at him. He looked down at his stomach, it having grown nervous thinking about it.

"I…uh…" he stuttered. He hadn't actually considered it. What exactly did he want? "Just to be close to him. Sleep next to him. Protect him and give him everything he wants. Make him happy, I guess…" he trailed off, feeling like that wasn't completely all of it.

Tidus hit him on the back unexpectedly. "Dude, you're so sappy. I expected you to say something along the lines of 'hold him down and kiss him senseless' maybe with a little molesting thrown in there. Then I would've called you a pervert and told you to get bent."

"Uh…will you still call me one if I say that sounds like a pretty good idea?" Roxas asked, a little of his sheepishness showing through.

Tidus laughed and waved his hand. "No, no. I'd just call you a teenage boy with hormones."

Roxas thought of asking what hormones were, but figured he didn't need to look like more of an idiot than he already did. He'd ask Sora or maybe Namine later. She seemed to be learning stuff really fast. "How do you suggest I accomplish this, then?" It couldn't hurt to get Tidus' advice, anyway.

Tidus tapped his chin thoughtfully. "You look like you don't have a clue and honestly, its gonna take a significant amount of time to teach you all I know so, uh…" he thought about it for a second. "You have first lunch tomorrow?"

Roxas nodded. "Yeah, I have-" he was interrupted by his cell phone ringing loudly. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the screen, giving Tidus a questioning look. "Its Kairi?"

Tidus shrugged and Roxas flipped the phone open. "Uh, hey, Kairi."

"Roxas," she said, her voice sounding strained. "Guess you noticed we haven't come back yet."

"Yeah. And?" Roxas pressed, leaning against the railing of the porch.

"We ran into some trouble," she started rambling in a hurried tone, "these guys, I think they were drunk, they grabbed Sora and I, but Sora told me to run so I got to the grocery store and called the cops but when we got there, Roxas they were huge they were like a foot taller than him-"

Roxas interrupted her, feeling his heart sink down into his stomach. "Is he okay?"

"Roxas he's fine he's just, he'll be fine the police brought us to your house and he's just got some ice on his face and I made him lie down," she sounded on the verge of tears at this point. "I'm sorry," she apologized. Kairi felt guilty for leaving Sora alone with those guys even though Sora had forced her to run and had she stayed, she wouldn't have done much good anyway.

"Calm down, okay? I'm coming home." Roxas said.

"But you can't drive the car-" Kairi tried to protest. "You should get Riku to-"

"Its okay, I'll just walk. I don't even know where Riku is right now. Tell Sora I'll be there soon, okay?" He hung up on her, not wanting to hear any more of her protests.

"What's up? What happened?" Tidus asked, following Roxas back into the house as he pushed past the people.

"I'll tell you tomorrow?" Roxas thought of finding Hayner, Pence, and Olette to say goodbye, but his stomach was flip-flopping. He just wanted to get home, where Sora was. How bad was he hurt?

Tidus stood in the entryway as Roxas ran out the door, barely stopping to put his shoes on. He didn't walk home, he started running headlong in the direction of his house, really hoping that he remembered the way. Roxas didn't even bother waiting for crosswalk signals.

After only two wrong turns, Roxas fumbled for his keys at his front door. When his pockets came up devoid of keys, he cursed. Sora had taken his keys to put on his keyring. Roxas pounded on the door. "Its me! Open up!" he called, hoping Kairi was still there. When there was no answer for a few seconds, he debated going for the backdoor, or maybe even climbing up onto the garage roof and climbing in through his window. Though his legs felt like jello from all the running, he doubted he'd be able to make the climb.

Finally, Kairi opened the door. Roxas let out a huge sigh of relief. "You okay?" he asked first. It was still important to be a gentleman.

Kairi nodded. "I'm fine. I called Riku and he said he'd send Tifa to come get me so she should be here soon. You should have waited-"

"Where is he?" Roxas interrupted her, coming inside the house and shutting the door.

Kairi smiled gently. She figured he'd be impatient to see Sora. "He's up in his room," but Roxas was headed up the stairs without taking his shoes off before she could even finish her sentence.

Roxas stopped at Sora's door, catching his breath. He inhaled deeply few times before knocking, and just opening the door. He didn't want to wait for an answer at all. "Sora?" he said, stepping into his room and shutting the door quietly behind him.

His face fell at the sight of Sora lying on top of his bed, a pack of ice pressed to his left eye. Sora turned just his head to look at the door of his bedroom. "Hey," he said, turning back to look up at the ceiling.

Roxas pushed his shoes off and practically tiptoed over to his bed, sitting down very gently. He surveyed Sora, who actually didn't look that bad. He found Sora's hand that wasn't occupied by the icepack and wrapped his fingers around it. He leaned down and let his forehead rest on Sora's ever so lightly. "You frickin' scared me," he whispered, with a small sigh. He sat back up after a brief moment and smiled warmly at Sora.

Sora smiled lopsidedly at Roxas. His lip was cut, so it probably made it difficult. "I feel kind of dumb. I kind of got my ass kicked," he said, looking a little embarrassed. "Look," he pulled the ice off his face and set it aside, reaching down to inch up his shirt. Roxas had no problem helping him pull his shirt up far enough to expose his stomach and ribs. They were covered in black and blue bruises.

Roxas sighed again, looking back up to Sora's face. "Your eye is turning black, too," he said, wondering if it really hurt. He felt his blood grow a little hot and angry at whoever it was did this to Sora. It frustrated him further that he couldn't do a single thing about it, either. Roxas scooted up a little and touched Sora's face carefully. He moved his bangs aside and winced a little. The usually bright and cheerful eye was half closed and bloodshot, still weeping a little. Roxas carefully wiped the tears away.

"How did you get back home?" Sora asked quietly, not wanting to disturb Roxas' light touches to his face.

"Ran," Roxas replied, running his thumb across Sora's cheekbone, avoiding his eye.

"All the way? Did you say goodbye to Hayner and them?" Sora remembered how Roxas had sort of ignored him for their company.

"No, I kind of just ran out," he avoided looking Sora directly in the eye. "I couldn't really think of anything but getting back here."

There was a bit of a silence in the room where neither of them moved. Roxas, feeling so heavy with relief, and Sora feeling weary from the fight and a warming sensation at how concerned Roxas had been.

"You want me to get you anything?" Roxas finally broke the silence and moved to get up off of Sora's bed.

Sora kept a hold of his hand and pulled him back down. "No. Stay here," he requested. Roxas sat back down, moving a little further onto the bed. He picked up the icepack and rewrapped it carefully, placing it back in Sora's hand and guiding it to his eye.

"Thanks," Sora said, again with his lopsided smile.

Roxas squeezed his hand in response, resigned to just sitting there with Sora for a little while.


	13. The Awkward Zone

Roxas had third period with Tidus, so it was easy to walk with him to lunch. Sora joined them in the hallway and Roxas allowed him to stay with them until they had gotten their food from the lunch line.

"Uh, hey, Sora?" Roxas asked, as Sora headed towards their regular table, where Tidus could already see Yuffie recounting her great accomplishments at strip poker.

"Yeah?" Sora asked, a little concerned that Roxas had sounded uncertain for some reason.

Crap. Roxas hadn't actually thought of a really good reason to ditch Sora. "Tidus and I are gonna eat outside I think-" he started to explain.

"Oh, I'll come," Sora said, stopping his advancement towards the table.

Tidus patted him on the back. "Actually, I think we'd rather be alone. I asked him to eat with me today you know, so we could get to know each other better. Talk about sports and shoes." Roxas gave him a look. Did he just pick the randomest subjects he could think of? "Some one on one male bonding, you know since Roxas doesn't have many guy friends."

Sora's face remained in a friendly smile. "Oh, okay. Though Tidus, I don't know how much I'd consider you a guy friend…" he sort of laughed and started over to the table.

Roxas glared at Tidus on the way outside. "You made it sounds like we had a lunch date," he grumbled.

"Oh but we do," Tidus said, winking. He led Roxas to a secluded area around the side of the gym, where no one was going to see what they were doing.

Roxas grumbled and sat down with his lunch, content not to talk until he had finished it.

"So, you want to get in Sora's pants," Tidus started, downing the rest of his poweraide.

Roxas practically choked on the last of his milk. Did he have to put it that way?!

Tidus smirked, hopping off the short wall they were seated on, and pacing a little as if he were giving a lecture. "There are several important factors when it comes to kissing someone. Location, and timing! Also taking into account the person's personality."

Roxas nodded, listening carefully. He almost considered taking notes, but that would just be overdoing it. He remembered stuff pretty well anyway.

"First, take what you know about the person. Is this person romantic? Are they friendly? Closed off? Kinky? Shy?" He listed a bunch of stuff and Roxas almost asked him what kinky meant. Maybe not appropriate to ask yet.

Tidus continued. "Sora being our subject, I'm sure you've noticed that he's not shy at all, but he is dense."

"Hey!" Roxas felt like defending the jab at Sora's intelligence, even though it was sort of true. Sora didn't pick up on subtlety at all.

"Therefore, you will have to be extremely clear about what is wanted, and you will have to be the sole initiator of the action," Tidus explained. He was basically psyching Roxas up for the fact that if Roxas didn't go for it, it was probably never gonna happen. That is, unless Sora pulled one of his stunts of jumping straight in without thinking. "Secondly, Sora's pretty soft if you haven't noticed."

"I noticed," Roxas replied, his thoughts drifting back to the night with the thunderstorm and how comfortable Sora was to be entangled with.

"So this means you'll have to be very gentle with him. You can't just push him up against a wall and kiss him fiercely and passionately!" Tidus shook his head. Roxas noticed he seemed to be getting into it a little. It made the corner of his mouth quirk into a smile.

"Like I was saying. Location and timing," Tidus pointed at Roxas every time he made a point. "You'll want to be somewhere comfortable. On a bed, on a couch, sitting down somewhere. Sora's a sucker for romantic stuff, even though he'll deny it if you say so. He's the only guy that'll actually go watch chick flicks with me." Tidus nodded. He and Sora had had their share of ice cream eating romantic comedy nights. "So if you can get him under the moonlight, at sunset, in a dim room with a fire," Tidus paused and rustled through his bag for a piece of paper. "Here's a list of movies that I've compiled for you to watch." he handed it to Roxas, and Roxas looked it over curiously. He'd never watched many movies, let alone one of the ones on this list.

"Thanks?" he said, folding it carefully and sticking it in his pocket. Guess he'd have some research to do.

"So timing," Tidus resumed his lecture. "Most important of all. You can't just suddenly do it at random. And if the right time isn't coming, you gotta MAKE it. Get into a tickle fight or wrestle with him, get close to him any way you can. You have to get close to the person before you can kiss them. Here, stand up," Tidus gestured for Roxas to come over to him.

Roxas hopped off the wall and stood there sort of awkwardly. Was Tidus planning on a live demonstration? He would have another thing coming if he was.

Tidus took a few steps away. "This is not an okay 'I want to kiss you' distance," he pointed out. He moved a little less than an arm lengths away from Roxas. "This is not okay either. This is like the 'awkward zone'. Where you're standing too close for it to be normal, but not close enough to be initiating or suggesting anything."

"Uh…huh…" Roxas said, as Tidus started moving closer. He wished Tidus would go back into the awkward zone.

"So you have to be at least this close," Tidus instructed. "You can start by touching the person in some way. Don't just grab them, its too sudden and weird. You can touch their shoulder or find their hand or brush their bangs aside works really good." He pointed to himself. "So try it on me."

"What?" Roxas practically squeaked. Tidus looked fully prepared for it, too!

"I'm not asking you to kiss me, but do you want to screw it up when it's the real deal? I'll kill you if you give him a horrible first kiss," like Riku, Tidus had no problems looking out for Sora now that he was out of the running.

Roxas sighed and gritted his teeth, reaching up and brushing Tidus' bands aside. "Keep your hand on the face. It'll be easier to direct it where to go later."

"Uh…kay…" Roxas said, letting his hand trail down to Tidus' face and let it rest on his jaw. "Like here?"

Tidus grinned at him, ruining any sort of mood that was supposed to be occurring. "Perfect! Now, see this is a little weird since I'm taller than you, but Sora is the exact same height as you so you won't have any problems. If he were below you for some reason, you'd use this hand to tip his head up."

Roxas nodded, noting that it was kind of strange. He wondered how you accurately kiss someone taller than you. Not that he really felt as if he needed to know. Roxas really just wanted to kiss Sora, and that was it.

Tidus shrugged a little. "So from here on out it's a matter of intense eye contact, of which you've both got great eyes so I'm sure that'll be fun," he looked Roxas directly in the eye. Roxas sort of shifted uncomfortably.

"Last thing is to remember to tilt your head, or you're gonna run directly into his face and you'll screw it all up." He put his hand heavily on Roxas' shoulder. "From there, you put your lips together and let instincts take over." As if it were the most simple thing in the world.

Roxas dropped his hand and sort of frowned. "That's it? What about if it like…goes…past that?" He would not blush, he would not.

Tidus chuckled a little. "Getting a little ahead of yourself there, aren't you?" He hopped back up onto the wall and kicked his legs a little.

Roxas failed and turned red, feeling dumb. Tidus gave him a reassuring smile. "You just do what you feel like doing. If you're adventurous you can use your tongue. If you're feeling particularly bold you can go for his neck. Put your hands in his hair. Most people like that."

Roxas nodded. He'd lie down next to Sora a lot, just because he knew he'd play with his hair. It always felt so nice and relaxing.

"And um…" Tidus said, avoiding looking at Roxas. "You know, if he doesn't start kissing you back it's a good plan to cease and desist and apologize immediately. He's Sora so…not likely he'll punch you or be mad at you or offended. Which makes you lucky." He said this as if he'd had personal experience with the situation.

Roxas sort of stared at Tidus. He hadn't even considered that Sora wouldn't want him to kiss him. He just thought it was something he'd want to do, and therefore Sora wanted him to do it. Sora had never stopped him before when he'd touched his face or gotten close to him. Then again, it was Sora. Sora would never, ever want to hurt anyone or make them feel bad. Roxas tried not to think about what Sora thought. Whether or not Sora was just being nice, or was actually interested. He didn't want to think about it at all.

Roxas came to sit back down next to Tidus. "Thanks for putting up with me. Even though I know you like Sora…" he sighed, rubbing his face a little. "A lot of people seem to." In fact, how many other people were interested in Sora that he wasn't aware of?

Tidus slapped him on the back heartily. "No problem. Sora is like, everyone's little ray of sunshine. Everyone's just happy when he's happy, you know?"

Roxas nodded. It was true, Sora immediately brightened up a room just when he walked into it. Roxas was generally a kind of quiet and introspective person, but Sora could get him to be social very easily. He couldn't stay mopey or quiet for long in Sora's presence.

* * *

Selphie giggled a little and bounded into the lunch room just before the bell rang. She found Sora and threw her arm around him. "Lookie, lookie. I was just outside taking pictures for yearbook," she said, flipping on her little digital camera. She scrolled through her memory card. There was a picture of a bike rack and some leaves and a locker bay.

"Cool Selphie," Sora said, perfectly enthused, even if it was kind of random. He was going to politely shrug her off to throw his lunch tray away.

"Wait for it…" Selphie told him, stopping on a picture that looked like the back of Tidus. He was standing rather close to someone.

"Is that…Roxas?" Sora asked, taking Selphie's hand with the camera in it and holding it closer to his face. He scrolled to the next picture. Was that a FACE CARESS? They had definitely breached the awkward zone!

Selphie nodded furiously. "Looks like Roxas has adjusted already," she said, giggling a little and skipping away.

Sora stood there dumbfounded for a second. He'd immediately quashed any jealousy that had come up when Roxas said he was going to eat lunch with Tidus and do some 'male bonding'. Now he wondered if that jealousy was actually legitimate considering the type of bonding they appeared to be doing. Sora stood in the lunchroom with his tray and frowned.

Riku came up behind Sora, noticing that he was just standing there. "Hey-" he started to say, but was interrupted by Sora jolting suddenly and flinging his tray and eaten lunch into the air and all over the floor.

"Oops," he said, feeling dumb, and stooped down to clean up the mess.

Riku emptied his tray and came back to help Sora with his accident. "You okay?"

Sora smiled brightly at him. "Yeah, you just scared me is all. Haha…clumsy."

Riku stared at Sora for a minute. In the off chance there was something wrong with him, it was clear he didn't want to talk about it. Riku decided that if Sora wasn't alright tomorrow, he would just beat it out of him was all. Good plan.

Sora thanked Riku and started towards his fourth period, trying not to let his thoughts take over his facial expression.

* * *

Thank you so much for the reviews, everyone. All my love! 


	14. Riku's Pretend Lovelife: Aerith

Sora had not forgotten about his Roxas experiment. He was as curious as ever about Roxas' strange behavior. Now that his relationship status was in question, Sora was not only determined to find out what made Tidus attractive to Roxas and himself not, and whether or not Roxas actually batted for the other team.

"I have a question," Sora said, as Axel handed him a peach smoothie. Sora had called him out specifically. He was a scientist after all, and scientists gathered information from all known sources.

"Yeah?" Axel replied, letting Sora know he was ready for whatever he threw at him. They sat down at one of the tables in the little smoothie shop they were in.

"What's Roxas' orientation?" Sora asked, staring directly at Axel while sucking unnecessarily hard on his straw.

Axel lifted an eyebrow. "Uhh…" he didn't quite understand what Sora was asking. "Vertical?" he answered, thinking it was pretty logical.

Sora made a face, then laughed as he got it. "No, you're dumb," he said, laughing at him additionally.

Axel kicked him under the table. "What? Was that not right?" If Roxas happened to be sleeping right now then he guessed his orientation would be horizontal.

Sora rolled his eyes. "I meant what is his SEXUAL orientation," he had to remind himself to be patient with those who were still adjusting.

"OH," Axel exclaimed, suddenly feeling sort of lame. "Does he like boys or girls?"

"That's what I'm asking you!" Sora replied. Scientific data gathering was harder than it seemed.

Axel sipped at his lychee smoothie and thought how he should handle this question. When they were nobodies, they couldn't really like or love anyone, so not much of that really counted. Roxas didn't really seem interested in looking at girls or guys when they were out together, and the only person Axel knew that Roxas was for sure interested in was sitting right in front of him. "Roxas' sexual preference is you," Axel decided aloud.

Sora choked on his smoothie, and Axel reached over to pat his back. He laughed, mostly because it was completely true and yet Sora would never know he wasn't joking. "Okay, seriously. I don't know. He doesn't seem highly interested in much of anything."

"Don't tease me like that, you jerk!" Sora pouted as best he could, biting down moodily on his straw. "So…so he's asexual?" He pondered the implications of this discovery.

"I wouldn't label him sexually dead or anything," Axel warned him. "He asked me what hormones were yesterday."

Sora sort of laughed. "Really? Did you even know?" He imagined Axel and Roxas talking about hormones and it was amusing in his head.

"We looked it up on the internet," Axel said, shrugging. Thank goodness for the internet. Axel made it his personal goal to read all of Wikipedia before the year was out.

"Hmm…" Sora said, going back to his smoothie.

Axel carefully threw his empty cup at the wastebasket and it bounced off the rim and landed on the floor. The girl that was cleaning the table nearby chuckled and picked it up for him. He called thanks to her and she just smiled. "Why do you want to know anyway? Got a crush on him or something?" Obviously.

Sora avoided looking directly at Axel. "Or something. I think he's interested in Tidus, though. He's a kid from school."

"He?" Axel asked, not really surprised that it was a guy, but surprised that Roxas was showing signs of interest in someone that wasn't Sora. Maybe Axel still had shot after all? "What gives you that idea?"

Sora shrugged. "They were getting really close at lunch. They practically ditched me to eat by themselves outside." Sora hadn't seen it as a ditching at all until he found out what it was they had been doing outside.

"Did you ask Roxas about it yet?" Axel inquired. It could be a misunderstanding.

Sora shook his head. "Selphie told me and I told Kairi who told Riku and Namine, who probably told Yuffie, who likely told everyone in the school. I think it'll be back around to him eventually."

"High school sounds stupid," Axel felt the need to comment. He was glad he didn't have to endure it. "I bet there's an explanation, anyway. Roxas is reserved. He doesn't just DO stuff. He thinks real hard about it first."

Sora pushed back his chair and stood, walking over to the wastebasket to throw his stuff away. "I guess I'll take this information and go home and process it," he said decisively. Another way that Roxas wasn't actually like him. Sora didn't think about anything before he did it.

"And you should ask Roxas about it," Axel pointed out. Maybe then the two would confront each other about their feelings, since it seemed just about everyone knew that they liked each other, except for them.

Sora didn't answer. Did he really want to ask Roxas about it? I mean, Roxas didn't know Sora liked him so…it would be totally normal to talk about stuff like that. Wouldn't it?

"What are you, a Rocket scientist? Who says 'process this information'?" Axel wasn't socially perfect yet, but he knew how to speak normally.

"Uh, a Roxasologist?" Sora joked.

"Ooo, can I be on your research team? Especially the physical research," Axel asked in a rather suggestive manner.

Sora frowned at him and gave him a push. "No, only I can be on my research team."

Axel held up his hands. "Okay, okay. Go for it."

**Riku's pretend love life: Aerith**

Riku knocked on Kairi's door two hours before his supposed date with Aerith. It was true that Riku had only just turned eighteen, and Aerith was a legal twenty one, but it didn't bother him and now he had the extra added reputation of courting the college cuties.

Sow why was he at Kairi's house? Riku had visited Aerith's flower shop Monday after school and told her about his predicament. He had plucked a pretty flower from one of her pots out front and presented it to her while asking for her help. Being the sweetheart that Aerith was, she couldn't really resist. They'd both agreed that it would be safer and more comfortable to go in a group, so that it was a date and not a date at the same time.

This is how Kairi, Namine, Sora, and Roxas got roped into going to the theater with Aerith and Riku.

"Hi," Namine said, as she opened the door. She swung it wide enough for Riku to come in. "Kairi's in the shower so you'll have to wait."

"Cool," Riku replied, slipping his shoes off just inside their door. "She has to make me look like a suave young gentleman. What are you going to wear?"

Namine shrugged a little. "I don't have a lot of really nice clothes so Kairi said she'd pick something out for me." They hadn't really had time to go shopping for anything, either. Namine kindly took Riku's bag off his hands and started leading him up the stairs.

"Oh, so both of us are in her hands. I hope she has mercy," Riku muttered, catching the sound of the shower running as they passed the bathroom.

Namine placed Riku's bag lightly on Kairi's bed and sat down. Riku leaned against her desk. Namine swung her legs a little, trying to think of anything to say to make the moment less awkward. She really didn't have much in common with Riku after all. "So the fundraiser for the new field sounds kind of cool."

Riku nodded. "I was thinking about being in it. You know, as a service to the school," he smirked. "Actually, I could be the only one in it and that'd pay for the field by itself." They had some pretty rich kids at their school.

"How…safe would that be?" Namine asked skeptically. "I mean, I perfectly well imagine a group of highly questionable girls buying you. You've read the rules, haven't you?" The participant belonged to the buyer for one entire Saturday between the hours of 10am and 10pm. They could make the participant do what they wanted within legal and moral limits.

"You make a really good point," Riku replied. There was silence again between the two of them, and Riku pushed off the desk and headed for the door. He opened Kairi's door and made to head out into the hallway. "I'll go see if Kairi's out of the sho-"

Riku ran directly into her as he blindly stepped out of her room. She stumbled and clutched at her towel, and Riku caught her around the waist. "Woah, sorry," he apologized, realizing that he now had several wet spots on his clothes.

"Riku!" Kairi hoped to goodness her towel was covering everything. What was he doing in her room?!

"Let go you pervert and get OUT," she removed Riku's arm from around her and shoved him out of the room, practically slamming the door behind her.

Riku stared at the closed door, unable to grasp what had just happened.

"You're red," Namine told Kairi from her spot on the bed. Kairi reached for her bathrobe, heart beating a million miles an hour. So embarrassing.

After a few minutes, when he was absolutely sure that there wasn't going to be any blushing or anything totally stupid on his part, Riku knocked on the door politely. "I'm sorry! I didn't see anything!" He shook his head for suddenly thinking it wouldn't be so bad if he did.

Kairi opened the door again and pulled him into the room. She was obviously at the tail end of being flustered.

"You're such an idiot," she told him. She was standing there in just her slip and bathrobe, not wanting to put her dress on yet. Namine was picking out shoes in Kairi's closet, already dressed.

Riku sort of stood there awkwardly, not sure what he was supposed to be doing. Should he apologize again?

"Well, what have you got? Show me." Kairi demanded, placing her hands on her hips as if she were waiting very patiently to do him this favor.

Riku scrambled for his bag. "Yes sir!"


	15. The Fifth Avenue

Sora opened Roxas' door and poked his head in. "Are you ready yet?" he inquired, opening the door and coming further inside. He hopped about like a kangaroo trying to pull his other sock on.

"I don't get this thing," Roxas admitted, dangling the tie in front of his face. He knew where it went and what to do with it but HOW to do that, he was stumped.

"You tie it around your head," Sora said, completely serious.

Roxas looked at him for a second, then realized his own tie was snug around his neck. "You're stupid," he said, throwing the tie at Sora.

Sora laughed and approached Roxas. "Sorry, gonna have to breach the awkward zone here," he said, standing close to Roxas, but making sure not to touch him.

Roxas took a deep breath slowly. He had half a mind to pull Sora close enough for their bodies to collide. Sora had been doing this to him all week. Standing close, sitting close, really close, but never close enough to touch Roxas. He was a freaking tease and he had no idea about it.

Sora popped Roxas' collar up and buttoned the last two buttons on his shirt. He draped the tie around his neck. "Kay, paying close attention?"

"Does it have to be buttoned all the way up?" Roxas asked. "Won't my neck get hot?" He wasn't a fan of stuffy clothing.

"Only if you're getting too close and friendly with someone," Sora told him, tugging on the tie. "Pay attention. I'm only teaching you this once."

"I'm paying attention," Roxas assured him. He wasn't. He was watching Sora's cute facial expressions as he tied it. His tongue was stuck out between his lips in concentration. Roxas felt his face involuntarily lean closer to Sora's. He was within the awkward zone, right? Roxas lifted his hand and was about to put it on Sora's waist when Sora jerked his head suddenly.

"OW!" Roxas exclaimed, turning to the side and covering his nose.

"Sorry!" Sora replied, placing his hand on his forehead where it had ran into Roxas' face.

Roxas sort of laughed, making sure his nose wasn't gushing blood or anything. "I guess I was just concentrating too hard." Right. Not on the tie.

Sora leaned on Roxas' desk and smiled at him. "You look good!" He really looked handsome in a dress shirt and tie with slacks. All Sora's own clothes, but still.

Roxas looked down at himself, and started buttoning his cuffs. "Thanks. You do, too." He struggled with the buttons for a moment, before finally sighing and holding his wrist out to Sora. Sora knew exactly what he wanted without words. "So…this is not a date, right? Only for Riku and Aerith?"

"Nope. Just friends going out," Sora replied. He fumbled with Roxas' buttons, too. It should be an okay time to bring it up. "I mean, unless you want it to be a date. I mean between us. Kairi and Namine probably wouldn't mind."

Roxas thought that came out of nowhere. Sora was failing his buttons really badly. He was sort of pulling on the two sides, but wasn't really putting them together. Roxas stretched his fingers out and took hold of Sora's wrist, stopping his progress. "I kind of thought-"

Sora immediately interrupted him. "I just was thinking that I know we promised each other and if you wanted to get it over with so you could go on dates with other people that's okay." The last thing Sora wanted was for Roxas to be annoyed that he had a promise to Sora and couldn't go out with Tidus.

"Did you…want to go on dates with other people?" Roxas asked, not letting go of Sora's wrist. Is that why he was asking in specific? Sora had a way of making things about other people and hiding his own interests.

"Well…not really…" Sora replied, staring intently at where Roxas' fingers were curled around his wrist. "But since you and Tidus seemed to be hitting it off so well, I don't want to interfere with-"

Roxas sighed, as if he were at the end of his patience. "Stop it, Sora," he demanded immediately. So, Sora had heard this rumor, too.

"Sorry," Sora apologized, trying to pull his wrist away. He guessed Roxas was sensitive about it, maybe embarrassed about his first real crush or something.

"Whatever you heard from the girlfriend of the brother of the guy that sits next to me in fourth period, just forget it." Roxas was surprised at how fast news, be it false or not, spread through a high school. It was seriously ridiculous.

"So, you and Tidus aren't…? I mean you're sure he doesn't like you?" Sora felt a huge weight lifting off his chest, and a little of his jealousy was slowly dissipating.

Roxas let go of Sora's wrist, in indication that he should start buttoning his sleeve again. "You're SO oblivious, Sora. Just because Tidus gropes my ass, doesn't mean he likes me," Roxas pointed out. This is one thing he'd learned about pervy guys quite clearly by now. "In fact, he likes YOU."

Sora finished with Roxas' cuffs and took a step back. He gave Roxas a curious look. "No he doesn't…"

Roxas rolled his eyes at him. "Yes, he does. Did."

"Did?" Sora repeated, like he'd just learned the word.

Roxas crossed his arms. "Yes, did. Before I told him to back off. I can't believe you didn't noticed how he always stared at you."

"You noticed?" Sora asked, his face threatening to break into a happy smile.

Roxas avoided looking at him. "It was obvious."

There was another issue, though. It technically wasn't any of Roxas' business if Tidus liked to gawk at Sora, and was interested in him. So telling him to back off seemed a little…protective, if not possessive. "So why did you-"

"We should get going," Roxas interrupted, turning and leaving Sora's room. Sora stared after him with a confused look that eventually morphed into a grin.

* * *

Roxas and Sora drove to Namine and Kairi's house, where they picked up the girls. Riku left a little early and picked up Aerith, meeting them at the box office of the 5th Avenue Theater. Riku pulled an envelope from his pocket and distributed the tickets.

"You clean up decently," he said, holding Roxas' ticket out to him. Roxas reached for it and Riku held it back with a smirk. Roxas glared at him and Sora snatched the thing from Riku.

"Play nice, children," he said, handing the ticket to Roxas. Roxas stuck his tongue out at Riku.

Riku offered his arm to Aerith. "You're so very gentlemanly," she complimented. "Everyone looks so cute tonight." She looked as if she wanted to pinch all their cheeks.

"I was going for suave," Riku said. Maybe he hadn't achieved the desired effect.

Aerith patted his arm. "You've got it, Riku," she said. "It was nice of you to take everyone here. How many girls have you dated this year so far?"

Riku stopped to think. "You are my fifth. I've been busy." When he really thought about it, it made him feel slightly scummy.

"And? I heard you're after Tifa, too? If you're nice, then I'll put in a good word for you." Aerith promised. They all gave their tickets away at the front door and entered the old fashioned theater. The doors to the floor seats were to their left, and the twin staircases up to the balcony were to their right.

"Thanks, Aerith. I think I might need that good word," he'd have to turn the charm all the way up to get that date. But he was Riku. Its not like she would say NO. "You want anything to drink?" There was a bar just upstairs and while Aerith was legal, Riku figured she wouldn't want anything alcoholic anyway, so he could buy her a soda or something.

"Sure," she said, and the two of them headed up the stairs.

Namine checked her watch, Roxas flipped through the program, and Sora watched Kairi try to act like she wasn't watching Riku take Aerith up the stairs.

"You're going to shoot yourself before too long," Sora told her, hands in his pockets.

"What?" she asked, turning towards him. She saw the look on his face. "Sora, don't start."

Sora put his hands up. "I'm just saying! I just hate seeing that look on your face all the time. Whenever he goes off with another girl."

Kairi crossed her arms, unaware that Roxas and Namine had stopped what they were doing to listen to their conversation. "I can't. We made a promise, you KNOW that."

Sora rolled his eyes. "We were just kids then-"

"What promise?" Roxas blurted out. Namine hit him.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to listen," she apologized.

"We made a promise, when we were little. Kairi, Riku and I. We weren't allowed to fall for each other, because that would mean we'd leave the other person behind," Sora explained to them.

"And we didn't want resentful love triangles," Kairi added. "It was going okay until Sora liked me."

"Thanks, you make me sound like the ruiner," Sora said, sticking her tongue out at her.

"Riku liked Sora, though," Roxas pointed out, feeling the need to defend Sora a little, and to label Riku as definitely not innocent.

"And now I've broken the promise, too," Kairi said, looking back up to the wraparound balcony. Aerith was talking with someone she appeared to know while sipping on a drink, and Riku was leaning over the edge, looking down at the people below. She caught his gaze and he smiled, waving a little. Kairi waved back, and Sora put his index fingers in his mouth, pulling his cheeks apart and sticking his tongue out. Kairi have him a push and Riku laughed.

"You guys are cute, its gross," Roxas said, looking back at the program.

Sora put his arm around Kairi. "Forget about the promise. You're not leaving me all alone," he started, directing her off towards the staircase. "I don't like either of you that way, you know that. I set my sights a little, blonder…"

Roxas looked up abruptly from his pamphlet, catching Sora's words. He looked at Namine, and pointed to her curiously.

Namine reached over and turned Roxas' pointing finger towards himself. He looked down at it as if he couldn't decipher what it meant.

"Oh? Oh! Ohhhhh" He said a few times. "Wait…" Namine grew impatient with him and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the stairs.

* * *

A/N: In case you were wondering, 'Adjusting' has 20 chapters currently written, and is still not finished. I'm estimating no more than ten more chapters beyond that. Happy reading! 


	16. Rent

The six friends had seats all in a row at the very edge of the balcony. Riku stood aside and let Aerith go first, moving in to sit next to her. The other four sort of stood there, and Kairi pushed Namine in next, shaking her head a little. As much as she wanted to sit next to Riku, she really shouldn't. Kairi waited for Roxas and Sora to go in ahead of her, not being dumb enough to sit in between them.

Once they were seated, Sora leaned over to Roxas. "So, what's this show about?"

Roxas shrugged. "Its called 'Rent'. It's a musical, apparently about AIDS. Whatever that is."

Sora snickered. "It's an STD," he informed Roxas. Uh oh, did Roxas need sex-ed? "A sexually transmitted disease. And you can get it from sharing drug needles."

Roxas nodded. He had a feeling that he was going to need Sora to explain a lot of the musical to him afterwards.

Even as the lights went down, and the curtain went up, Roxas was less inclined to pay attention to what was going on. He wasn't sure what he thought about the incessant singing, and he was still sort of thinking about what Sora had said earlier. A few minutes in, he felt Sora shift next to him. And again. And again. Roxas reached over with his foot and kicked Sora's. "Sit still," he whispered to him.

Sora kicked him back. He sat still for another moment before Roxas felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked over at Sora, who pointed to the lady in front of them. Roxas didn't get it until he saw she had tiny origami crane in her hair.

Roxas' mouth fell open, and he looked at Sora, who waved the program at him, a square torn out of the cover. Roxas shook his head. He couldn't believe how short Sora's attention span was.

Turning his attention back to the show, Roxas put his arm up on the armrest that was between the two. Sora almost immediately pushed it off to put his own arm there. Roxas frowned at him when he pretended like he hadn't done it, and pushed Sora's arm off. This went on for several minutes until finally Roxas trapped Sora's arm underneath his.

For whatever reason, Sora responded by covering his mouth to prevent laughter, and grabbing Roxas' hand, locking their fingers together. When Roxas tugged, Sora didn't let go. Instead, he kicked him again.

Roxas kept his eyes on the musical. One of the women on stage was singing some ridiculous song about a cow going over the moon. It was safe to say that Roxas didn't get it, and he was pretty sure he wasn't going to anytime soon.

"Stop it, you two," Kairi warned, from next to Sora.

Sora just remained fixated on the stage. "I didn't do anything," he whispered back to her.

Roxas smirked and moved his foot over until it came in contact with Sora's. Very slowly, he lifted his foot an ran it slowly up Sora's leg, the pantleg of his slacks coming along with it.

Sora visibly seized up and Roxas laughed under his breath. Sora reached over and hit him, only to be hit back. They were acting so immature, but neither of them cared. They tried to suppress their fits of laughter, until crane hair woman turned around to glare at them, and Sora burst out laughing.

Roxas practically jumped from his seat, yanking Sora along with him, through the aisle, down the walkway, down the stairs and out the door into the foyer. Sora never once stopped laughing hysterically.

"What are you, five?" Roxas asked, not being able to keep the smile off his face.

Sora held his side and laughed, pointing weakly back at the theater. "Crane lady, her face…" was all he managed to say.

Roxas started to laugh a little, but seeing Sora practically doubled over made him have to cover his mouth. He, after all, was still trying to be polite.

"Oh man…oh man…I have to pee now…" Sora said, looking around for the bathroom. Seeing as how he'd never let go of Roxas' hand, he pulled Roxas towards it, too.

Once inside the bathroom, Roxas hopped up on the empty counter space and undid his tie. It was hot in there, and Sora's hand holding endeavor didn't really help him at all. He unbuttoned the top button of his shirt.

Sora's laughter eventually died down, and he came over to where Roxas was sitting to wash his hands. He looked over at Roxas. "What'd you undo your tie for? This isn't a vacation."

Roxas swung his legs impatiently. "I don't wanna go back in there," he complained. He didn't even know what was going on.

Sora waved his hand over the paper towel machine several times, producing enough to satisfy him, and maybe just because he found the thing fascinating. He came over to stand next to Roxas, leaning against the counter, drying his hands. "Yeah, I don't want to either," he admitted, tossing the paper towel in the wastebasket.

"We could just sit around-" Roxas started to say.

"-fool around while we wait for it to be over." Sora pushed off the counter and faced Roxas. Roxas just sort of stared at him, not sure what kind of fooling around he meant. He HAD grabbed his hand on purpose back there.

"What like, stop up all the sinks and turn the water on then walk out laughing?" Roxas asked, watching Sora's hands land on his knees as he stood in front of him.

Sora laughed lightly, pushing Roxas' knees apart. "Something like that." He moved between Roxas' legs and Roxas instinctively scooted back on the counter. What did he think he was doing, exactly?

Sora put one hand on Roxas' thigh, just barely. "What are you doing, loser? Get back here so I can tie your tie again. The girls will actually kill us if we don't go back in there, and I know you didn't pay enough attention to do it yourself."

Roxas let out the breath he had been holding, hoping Sora hadn't noticed. What was his hand doing on his leg? Roxas moved forward a little, and Sora reached up to button up his shirt again.

"Sora, you really, really don't take your own advice, do you?" Roxas asked.

"Hm?" Sora asked innocently, repositioning the tie to ready it for being knotted.

Roxas took a deep breath. He didn't want to confess, exactly. But Sora had to know he was being torturous, he had to. The minute he had discovered that Roxas wasn't interested in Tidus, he went back to his old self. It was as if he'd suddenly been given permission to touch Roxas again, and he didn't seem to have a problem taking every opportunity he could get.

"This is not 2.5 feet, Sora," Roxas tried to hint, even leaning down just a little. Sora's hands stayed at Roxas' collar, poised to tie his tie, unmoving. "I listen carefully to everything you teach me," Roxas said slowly, quietly as if there were anyone in the bathroom to actually hear. He felt a nervous twinge start to act up in his stomach, and he forced himself to quash it. "And according to prevailing theory, you really set yourself up to be sending 'weird signals'." Hand holding was definitely not hitting, or shoving.

"Well…I…just with you, its…" Sora stuttered. He clutched the tie in his fists nervously. Sora stared directly at it, trying to think of what to say. He WAS sending signals. Ones that he wanted Roxas to get oh so badly. Every single touch, every time their eyes met. Sora's hands started to hurt from clenching his fists so tightly, and he slowly let go, hesitantly putting one hand on Roxas' shoulder.

Roxas swallowed thickly, running through his head everything Tidus had told him. The location wasn't really romantic, or even cool in the least bit if he thought really hard about it. But that timing thing wasn't so off, not to mention the breach of the awkward zone and heck, Sora had covered the touching part all by himself. Sora wasn't giving him answers, just staring at his chest, and what felt like tapping his thumb on Roxas' shoulder. "Sora, look at me," Roxas requested, hoping he didn't chicken out the moment Sora turned those bright blue eyes on him.

Sora obeyed almost immediately, looking up at Roxas, who was elevated quite a bit due to his position on the counter. He tilted his head just in time to prevent another accident like earlier. Sora practically went weak in the knees at Roxas' intense expression, abandoning the tie to put his other hand on Roxas' shoulder. If he didn't know any better, they really were in a position to…yeah. Sora didn't want to know any better. Nothing could actually BE any better.

"So, Sora," Roxas said, and Sora could feel his breath tickle his face. "What does it mean, then, when a person is so close to someone they're afraid to breathe, and their heart is pounding hard in their chest," Roxas phrased his question just above a whisper. Sora felt Roxas' fingers barely touch his cheek, and his eyes slid closed of their own accord. He couldn't stop himself. This was impossible, madness even. Roxas must be teasing him. Could he possibly be that cruel? Sora's mouth opened just slightly to facilitate his short breaths.

"And they can't stop thinking about how…" Roxas used his tongue to wet his lips a little, remembering to tilt his head. "…how badly I want to know if your lips are really as soft as they look…" he mumbled, forgetting what he was talking about. He paused, in case Sora was stupid enough to answer him. Roxas leaned in, intent on closing the gap between them, before the bathroom door was thrown open, banging against the opposite wall.

"Mimi, what a crack whore! What is Roger wasting his time for? Chick obviously has problems," voices suddenly filled the bathroom and Sora jumped in surprise, loosing his footing and falling backwards onto his ass.

"Woah, kid," a guy that was coming into the bathroom almost tripped over Sora.

Sora's mouth moved like a fish out of water. "S-sorry!" he said, finding his voice again. The man just chuckled as Sora scrambled to his feet. He looked at Roxas as a wave of guys strolled into the bathroom. "Sorry!" he called over the chatter, turning and darting out the door.

"Sora! Wait!" Roxas said, hopping off the counter. He weaved around the men that were in his way and burst out into the foyer. He immediately groaned. There were people EVERYWHERE. "Shit," Roxas cursed, pushing past people to get back to where they had been sitting. It was the most likely place for Sora to go back to, right?

He should apologize. It was a horrible idea! Why hadn't he listened to Tidus? In the bathroom for goodness sake! Sora probably thought he was a huge pervert. Roxas ran directly into Namine on her way out of the theater, causing them both to almost fall down the stairs.

"Woah, are you okay? Where did you go?" Namine asked, steadying herself. Roxas sure looked frantic.

"What's going on? Is it over?" Roxas asked, looking around to see the whereabouts of the rest of his friends. No one was with Namine.

"It's only intermission. What's…" but she didn't get to finish her sentence before Roxas was gone into the theater.

Roxas found Riku and Aerith sitting at their seats chatting about the show. "Have you seen Sora?" he demanded immediately, almost tripping over the chairs to get over to them.

"No, why?" Aerith asked, looking a bit concerned.

Kairi came up behind Roxas unexpectedly. "Hey guys, I just ran into Sora and he gave me his keys, saying he didn't feel good and was going to catch a cab home," she noticed Roxas there and furrowed her brow. "What happened?"

Roxas sat down in his seat, covering his face. "More like what didn't happen," he mumbled.

Riku leaned forward. "No way," he said, unbelieving.

"That's so cute," Aerith exclaimed. Roxas face was pretty red beneath his hands. Kairi sat down gently next to him, patting his shoulder comfortingly.

Roxas could care less about who died and who didn't die for the rest of the musical. This was the first time he'd ever experienced the feeling of wanting to bury yourself in a hole forever.

* * *

After dropping Kairi and Namine off, Riku followed as Aerith drove Sora's car back to Sora and Roxas' house.

"It'll be alright," she told Roxas gently, petting his hair a little like an older sister or aunt would. She handed the keys to Roxas, urging him out of the car, before climbing into Riku's car to be taken home.

Roxas locked Sora's car and went inside the house quietly. It wasn't that late, but Roxas was tired. He trudged up the stairs slowly, intent on just going into his room and collapsing on his bed. Roxas reached for his door handle and noticed Sora's keys were still in his hand. He sighed, looking down the hall. He could see that the light was on in Sora's room from the crack under his door. Roxas practically tiptoed over there, standing in front of it silently, trying to find the courage to knock.

Sora had just been lying on his bed listening to music when he saw the glare of the headlights of his car pull into the driveway. He pushed back his curtain and watched Roxas walk up to the front door and let himself in. He'd pulled the headphones out of his ears and opened his bedroom door, to hear Roxas close the front door and start up the stairs. He closed his bedroom door quickly and stood there, waiting. Sora knew he was being stupid, but he couldn't bring himself to just go out there. Sora fiddled with the hem of his pajama shirt, listening carefully. Roxas hadn't opened his bedroom door yet. "Please…" he whispered. He hoped Roxas would notice his light was on and come knock on his door. Sora was prepared to opened the door the minute he did so.

Roxas raised his fist several times to knock, but he just didn't. What was he even going to say? After a minute, he turned around and leaned his back against Sora's door. He slid down it into a seated position, and let his head fall back against the door with a quiet 'thunk'.

Sora heard Roxas' head hit the door, but it wasn't a knock. Should he open it anyway? What was he doing out there? Sora squatted down and covered his head, confused and frustrated. He was non confrontational, and not usually very open about what he wanted. The needs of other people always came first. Sora was motivational, he got other people to do things, that was the way he worked. Only when he was absolutely sure they couldn't do it themselves, he would take charge.

Sora held his breath as he heard Roxas talking to himself outside the door. "Sora…" he practically whined softly. "Is this what it feels like to go insane? I just…wish I knew what you wanted."

"You!" Sora blurted out, then covered his mouth. He heard movement behind the door and stood up quickly, panicking. His long awaited knock on the door came, and he found he was less ready for it than he thought.. Sora took a deep breath. Breathing, breathing, and opened the door.

"Hey. How was the rest of the thing?" Sora asked, cheerfully.

Roxas just sort of looked at him. "Were you just…?" he asked. He swore he'd heard Sora's voice just now.

"Hm?" Sora asked, cocking his head to the side.

Roxas shook his head. It must have been wishful thinking. "Nevermind. Here's your keys," he said, holding them out to Sora.

Sora took his keys, his hand staying a little longer than necessary. "I'm going to bed," Roxas told him, shuffling off to his room.

Sora closed his door and threw his keys on his desk moodily. He hit his head with the palm of his hand repeatedly.


	17. Riku's Pretend Lovelife: Olette

"Hey, you never put pictures in your locker," Kairi said curiously, leaning over Riku's shoulder and peering at his locker door. There was a clumsily taped picture of Olette in an extremely cute yellow sundress hanging there.

"Yeah, I know," Riku said, pressing down one of the corners of tape that was coming up. "But how else are people gonna believe I've got a girlfriend in another city?"

Kairi made a little bit of a face that she didn't mean to make. "A girlfriend…huh?" Riku had never used girlfriend to describe any of his girls before. It left an icky taste in her mouth, even. Or so she thought.

"Er…dating someone in another city," he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and slid it open. "I got her number from Roxas and asked her to send me a picture. She said she didn't care if I called her to chat during lunch sometime. Best thing about dating Olette is that it's totally free. And she didn't even have to break up with Hayner to do it!" He showed Kairi the front of his phone, where he had a picture of him and Olette he had taken at his Halloween party.

"You really think ahead, don't you?" Kairi said. Technically, he'd been dating Yuffie at the time and had planned to date Aerith afterwards.

"Yep, this type of planning takes forethought and effort," Riku informed her, scrolling through the pictures on his phone. "I think I took a picture of me with every girl at the party. There's even one of you- oh, no, wait, that's just your cleavage."

"What, you perv! Show me!" Kairi said, moving to grab his phone. Riku held it out of her reach suddenly and she dropped her biology textbook and notebook on the floor.

Riku laughed as she stooped to pick it up, squatting down as well. Kairi heard the 'click' on his phone and looked up. "Oh hey now I've got another one," he said, waving a picture taken directly down her shirt in her face.

"Gimmie that you jerk!" Kairi said, lunging at him and knocking him over. She landed on top of him while he laughed hysterically, trying to keep the phone out of her reach. "No way! I'm going to hang this one up in my locker!" he said, taking her wrist and detouring it from grabbing his phone.

There was a flash next to them and they both stopped what they were doing to look over at the perpetrator. Sora was standing there next to Selphie, who lowered her camera from her face with a grin. "Thanks, guys! Now I don't have to look for a picture for the 'cutest couple' part of the yearbook!" She giggled a little.

Kairi turned red and looked down at Riku, realizing that she was lying atop him. He just looked back up at her, a little curiously. After a second, he slid his phone closed. "Sorry," he muttered. Kairi just sighed and lay her forehead on his chest for a second.

Kairi picked herself up off the ground along with her books, shoving them in her locker. "Lets walk and talk, shall we?" Kairi said, taking Selphie's arm and practically dragging her away. "Riku and I aren't…you know…"

Selphie could be heard whining about it all the way down the hall. "Why not! You two are soooo cute…."

Riku sat up, still seated on the floor next to the locker bay. He looked over at Sora, who was standing there with his hands in his pockets, grinning like the Cheshire cat.

"Don't look at me like that," Riku said, getting up off the ground. "And don't say what I know you're gonna say." He brushed stray carpet fibers off his pants.

"Oh, oh okay. How about I look at you like this then," Sora said, rolling his eyes and making an 'ew I just ate cafeteria food' expression. "And say: you are such a slut."

Riku's mouth fell open and he immediately pulled Sora into a headlock. "Take that back, you little brat!"

"You date everyone but the person you really, really want! And you know you want it!" Sora defended himself, trying to pull his head out of Riku's grasp.

"You have no room to talk Mr. 'My love interest finally almost kissed me and instead of molesting him, I'm avoiding him!'."

Sora punched Riku in the gut as hard as he could, and Riku let go, coughing a little. Sora frowned at him.

"Okay, okay," Riku said, rubbing his stomach. For such a skinny kid, Sora could punch hard. "We both suck, I get it."

"Do you guys get that you're both late for class, too?" One of the younger teachers said as he walked by. Riku slammed his locker and Sora took off running down the hall, neither of them keen on getting detention.

* * *

Selphie was excited. She loved being on yearbook and the fundraiser for the new Astroturf football field was a GREAT time to take pictures. The field would be installed over winter break, and so the funds were being raised in November. Various students had signed up to be auctioned off for one day to the highest bidder. It was mostly just for fun, and most everyone understood this concept.

Selphie wandered around taking pictures as the fundraiser was being set up after school. The real event would start in about half an hour, but for now she was snapping pictures of the empty gym.

"Test….test…" Roxas' voice could be heard over the microphone. Selphie looked up at him standing on the stage, adjusting the microphone at the podium. "Hey Selphie, can you hear me back there?"

Selphie gave him a thumbs up and snapped a picture.

Yuffie came up beside Roxas as he pushed the button to mute the microphone. She set her Emcee notes on the podium, along with a list of people being auctioned off. "Thanks for the help, Roxas," she said, smiling at him.

Roxas shrugged. "I had to be here anyway," he said, climbing up on one of the several stools that were set on the stage.

"Sure you weren't just avoiding a certain someone?" Namine suggested as she walked by, setting the last stool on the stage.

"Yes, I'm sure!" he said, rather moodily. "Anyway, he's avoiding me too…" he mumbled. It was true he hadn't wanted to particularly go home, because that's where he knew Sora was at, and he was afraid he'd try something again and it'd go horrible like last time.

Namine climbed up onto the stool next to him. "Why don't you guys just talk?"

Roxas kicked his feet a little. "Guys don't talk, Namine. They just...DO."

"So…do him?" Namine suggested, perfectly innocently.

Yuffie snickered and Namine covered her mouth as Roxas gaped at her. "Namine!"

Namine giggled. "Oh, you know what I meant," she gave him a little push.

"What do I say to him?" Roxas asked quietly, not trying to involve any other of the setup helpers in their conversation.

Namine thought about it for a moment. "Umm…well…you know I've never felt what you feel for Sora for anyone so…I'd imagine you'd just go somewhere private where you're both comfortable."

Roxas nodded, paying very close attention. He could easily find a place where they were both comfortable. Either of their rooms, for instance.

"Then why don't you ask him how he felt about the other night?" Namine offered. This was the best thing she could really think of.

"I guess I could do that…" Roxas agreed, eyes drifting over to where the gym doors were. He watched Sora, Riku, and Kairi walk in, laughing about something, and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Okay, Kairi, here's the deal," Riku said, digging out his wallet.

"Huh?" Kairi asked, stopping in the middle of the aisle of chairs.

"I'm going to give you ALL the money on me and you HAVE to buy me," Riku told her. He pulled out a wad of bills and held them out to her.

"What? Riku, you realize that this defeats the purpose, right?" Kairi said. Though she would never admit that she had sighed a little lamentingly about the fact that she'd never beat out the group of rabid fan girls she knew were pooling money to buy Riku.

"I don't care. You have to protect my virginity! I'm counting on you." Riku nodded, shaking the money at her.

Kairi sighed and took the money. "How much is this?"

Riku shrugged. "Like three hundred bucks."

"You owe me so much," Kairi said, slightly exasperated.

"I know," Riku said, leaning down and kissing her lightly on the cheek.

Kairi just stood there, staring at him as he went after Sora towards the front of the gym, clutching the bills in her hand.

Yuffie tapped the mike and spoke into it. "Kay everyone, lets get to our assigned stools?" The students milling around filed up on the stage, and Yuffie called out their assigned seats. She smirked as Roxas was forced to sit down next to Sora.

"Hey," Sora said, not really looking at Roxas. "I uh…saw Axel outside."

"Oh?" Roxas replied, slightly appalled that they were making small talk like people who barely knew each other.

"Think he's going to try and buy you?" Sora asked, and there was something that Roxas couldn't quite place in his voice.

"Nope," Roxas replied. He knew for a fact, because he had begged Axel to come and buy Sora, so that no one else would get him.

"Oh," was all Sora said, before falling silent. The two just sat there quietly for a little while, until Sora sighed over dramatically.

"What?" Roxas asked, looking over at him, not doing such a good job at masking his irritation.

"Nothing," Sora replied.

Roxas gritted his teeth. Could Sora be any more frustrating?

Kairi had placed Riku's stash carefully in her lap, sneaking glances now and again at the large group of six or more girls that had gathered nearby and were pooling together their money. Kairi felt a hand on her shoulder briefly and turned to see Axel seating himself next to her.

"Hey, is this where all the hott redheads are supposed to sit?" he asked with a grin.

Kairi smiled at him. "I didn't know you were coming. Who're you looking to buy?"

Axel pulled out his wallet from his back pocket. "Roxas said he'd do me some 'favors' if I bought Sora for him."

Kairi raised an eyebrow, and Axel wiggled his. "You know what kind of favors I mean."

Kairi made a face. "You're gross!"

Axel just laughed. "He'll do my dishes and vacuum the living room for two weeks he said! Geeze, Kairi, don't be such a pervert!"

They quieted down as the lights dimmed and Yuffie came up to the mic. "Good Evening ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to our first and only fundraiser for our new Astroturf football field, the student auction! And when I say student auction, its because the students are what we're auctioning off!"

There was a loud cheer from the audience as the lights came up on the row of students. Yuffie continued her speech. "Wish you had an able body to mow your lawn this Saturday? Wash your dishes? Play video games with you? Go on a date?" she emphasized the last one and all the girls in the audience giggled furiously.

"As agreed by the students participating, each buyer will own the student of purchase for this Saturday, that is tomorrow, from the hours of 10am to 10pm. The bidding for each student will start at ten dollars and will be increased in increments of five dollars thereafter. To bid, just raise your hand, and I will be your auctioneer for tonight!" Yuffie picked up a hammer and slammed it on the podium. "So let's get bidding!"


	18. SOLD!

The spotlight fell on Riku in about a half hour. "Lot number five! Our very own sexy silver haired senior, Riku!"

Riku hopped off his stool and stretched as if he had been waiting for this moment forever, pushing the bottom of his shirt up some to show off his well defined stomach much to the delight of the fan girls.

Axel covered his ears a little, trying to block out the piercing screams of the high school students. Kairi looked up to see Riku running his fingers through his hair like a supermodel. "He is such a slut," she said, unintentionally mimicking Sora's earlier statement.

Axel nudged her. "Aw, cheer up. He can be your slut tomorrow."

Kairi turned away from Axel, trying to not make it apparent she was turning red.

"Bidding starts at five dollars for this sizzling hot specimen!" Yuffie said excitedly, knowing this was going to bring them the most money of the night.

The group of girls that had pooled their money together waved their hands excitedly. "Five dollars! Do I have ten?" Some guy raised his hand. The group of fan girls practically spit acid at him. "Ten! And I'm going to assume the rabid waving of the hands back there means fifteen?"

Kairi looked rather bored as the battle for Riku raged on, steadily climbing higher and higher in price. So far, she hadn't even needed to bid there was such a war waging between the group of girls and a few other people in the audience. Riku looked directly at her and she pointedly yawned, looking at her nonexistent watch. Riku laughed and would have thrown something at her if he had anything on him.

Oh, wait. He did. "Two hundred and sixty dollars! Do I hear two hundred sixty five?" Yuffie called. It appeared that no one was going to challenge the group of girls, and so Riku shrugged and stripped his shirt off, wadding it up and throwing it directly at Kairi.

"What the-!" she exclaimed, catching it before it landed on her head.

Axel pointedly laughed at her. "Well if that isn't a hint, I don't know what is."

Kairi raised her hand, trying her best to glare at Riku. The fan girls hissed and waved frantically. Kairi was surprised they had pooled so much money together. They glared at her and she raised her hand again. The few people that were between the two sort of darted out of the way, fearing that lasers would suddenly shoot from the fan girl's eyes.

"Two seventy fi- two eighty- two eighty five…" Yuffie called as fast as she could. "Oh, just tell me how much money you guys got," she got too impatient to keep this up.

"Three hundred fifty dollars!" One of the fan girls screamed at the top of her lungs. The whole gym looked at Kairi.

"Uhhhh….shit…" she said. She had three hundred twenty dollars on her, at the most.

Riku gave her a look that said 'You've GOT to be joking!' She bit her lip a little and sort of shrugged.

"Alright, then," Yuffie said, feeling sorry for Riku. "Three hundred fifty dollars…going once…going twice…"

"I'll take him for four hundred!" Someone in the back called, and Yuffie slammed her mallet on the podium.

"SOLD! To…the lady in leather? Is that you, Tifa?"

Tifa sat herself down next to Kairi and waved a little. "Give me all your cash and I'll pay the rest," she told Kairi, who gladly handed over all of Riku's money to her.

Kairi sighed with relief. "Geeze…I thought he was dog food. Thanks."

"No problem. I heard he wants to talk me into a date, anyhow. I thought I'd save him the trouble and take him out myself. Into the boxing ring, maybe." Tifa had heard all about Riku's womanizing ways from Aerith and had made it her personal goal to realize that she was the last girl he wanted to mess with.

Riku sat back down on his stool, relieved that he hadn't become food for the rabid wolves. He laughed quietly at the girls who had fixated their death glares at Tifa and Kairi.

"You are one lucky guy," Sora said, pushing him a little. "You owe Tifa your life."

Riku sighed. "I know. I owe Kairi, too. She's going to get so much crap from those girls on Monday."

Sora felt someone hit him in the arm and he turned to Roxas next to him. "You should probably pay attention to who's buying you," he said, almost jealously. If he had been smart, he wouldn't have signed up for the thing and he would have borrowed money from Axel to buy Sora.

Sora turned his attention to the audience and waved cutely as bids were being placed for him. The group of girls that were going to buy Riku clasped each other's hands. "Awwwwww!" They all cooed in unison, and then one of them raised their hand.

Sora covered his mouth. "Oh no!" Those girls had a huge sum of money on them.

"Well, shit. You're gonna die," Roxas commented. He looked out at Axel, who was going through his wallet. He doubted there was any way he had over three hundred fifty dollars on him.

Sora hit him. "Don't say that! You're scaring me!"

"Ow! What did you expect when you signed up for this?!" Roxas snapped, rubbing his arm a little.

Sora frowned at him, not expecting that he was going to snap at him like that. "Not to get fed to fan girls!"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Because you never think before you do anything!"

"I do to!" Sora protested, ignoring the battle for his existence going on out on the floor.

"You do not, Sora!" Roxas argued, not really aware that he was raising his voice. He was nearly at the end of his rope with Sora. How could he not realize how he caused these problems because he didn't think before he acted? "You do stuff without thinking about how other people will feel about it!" Just like last weekend.

"How can you say that?!" Sora practically shouted at him. "I always-" Sora was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder from Riku.

"Tidus just bought you," he informed him, unbelievingly.

"WHAT?!" Roxas and Sora said in unison, searching the audience for Tidus. They found him waving, with a giant smirk on his face.

"I'll fucking kill him," Roxas said, getting up out of his seat. He would do it right now. How could Tidus do this? Tell him he'd back off, then teach Roxas how to kiss just pull this shit?

Sora grabbed Roxas' arm and planted his feet, so he wouldn't go anywhere. "Sit back down! You're supposed to be auctioned off next!"

Roxas sat down huffily as Yuffie gave him a look. He was not pleased about the situation.

"Our next student to be auctioned off is new to the school this year, our cute blonde junior, Roxas." Yuffie said, starting the bidding.

"What's the big deal? You said Tidus only USED to like me." Sora narrowed his eyebrows.

Roxas practically growled. "That doesn't mean he doesn't still want to get his hands on you! Don't be so oblivious, Sora!"

"I'm not! I try to be VERY obvious, I'll have you know, and it isn't my fault that SOME people don't get it. You're the effing oblivious one!" Sora was growing more and more frustrated at Roxas. He was acting so jealous and childish and protective, for what Sora thought was no reason. "Why do you even care?" Why DID he care? It wasn't like Roxas wanted Sora to himself. If Roxas was going to pick someone to be confused over his feelings about, why did he have to pick Sora, whose emotions had already been put through the ringer these last couple years?

"SOLD! To Tidus…again." Yuffie announced.

Roxas and Sora both gaped. "WHAT?!" they shouted again, and Tidus appeared to be laughing maniacally.

"I'm confused," Axel leaned over to Kairi and tried to keep his voice down. "So, this is the Tidus kid who Sora thought Roxas liked? I thought they resolved that?"

Kairi was staring over to Tidus a little dumbfounded. Firstly, what did he think he was doing buying not only the guy that he was attracted to and told to back off of, but the guy who he's supposedly been caught in a compromising position with? Not to mention he knew that Sora and Roxas liked each other! Secondly, where the hell had he gotten a thousand dollars to pay for them?! "That's Tidus but…what's he planning?"

"Oh, hey, Namine is being auctioned off," Axel directed Kairi's attention towards the stage again. She was being bid on by a group of three science nerds who were snickering. Fighting against them for her was on overweight man who kept putting cracker jacks in his mouth and seemed like he refused to swallow them.

"Fifty dollars…do I hear fifty five?" Yuffie called out, putting a little more of a pause in there, it seemed.

Fat man scratched his head and knocked his toupee askew as he chuckled between a mouthful of cracker jacks. Kairi made a face. "Oh, gross. Axel, do something," Kairi said, looking over at the other redhead who had already raised his hand.

"I got it. No worries," he said, winking at her.

"Fifty five dollars going, going, SOLD to the tall redhead down front!" Yuffie said it as fast as she could, more willing to sell Namine (who was practically the picture of the innocent virgin maiden in the cute white dress she was wearing right now) to a guy that Kairi appeared to know.

Namine sighed onstage, relieved. "I don't know how much this was a good idea, it seems to have turned so wrong," she muttered, looking over at Roxas and Sora who had their back turned on each other, fuming.

"What's going on?" Namine leaned over and whispered to Roxas.

"He's being stubborn AND naïve like he always is," Roxas muttered.

"He doesn't make any sense, and he's harder to read than a freaking LaRouche pamphlet!" Sora was complaining to Riku on the other side.

Roxas ignored Sora, and Sora made his best attempt to ignore Roxas for the duration of the auction.

* * *

Yuffie shuffled through her notes a little after the last student had been sold. "I'd like to thank everyone who attended the auction tonight and would really like to thank our patrons for their generous donation. Please come to the stage to meet with and pay for your purchase. Have a good evening!" She clicked off the mike and people began to rise from their seats and leave.

Yuffie pulled out a safe box from under podium and sat at the end of the stage, collecting money while the students met their buyers.

Kairi stopped Riku while Tifa dished out the money to pay for him. "What the hell did you think you were doing up there? You were so worried that the cult of vipers would buy you and you were being a tease onstage?" She shoved his shirt at him roughly. "Once in a while, I just don't get you."

Riku frowned a little, catching the not so enthused tone in her voice. He took his shirt and pulled it on over his head. Kairi was standing there with her arms crossed. He'd never really known her to pout, but she looked rather unhappy at this moment. Slightly upset she couldn't save Riku herself, and that she had to be bailed out by Tifa. More upset that he'd acted like he needed her so badly just to turn around and try to sell himself to the entire gym.

Riku smirked slightly, reaching out and wrapping an arm around her waist, pulling her close. "Aw, are you just emo that you couldn't have me for an entire day?"

Kairi frowned, not in the mood to be teased. She pushed Riku away from her and extracted herself from his arm. "Maybe I am, Riku." she said, stepping away from him. "I gave Tifa all your money so, I think I'm going to head home. Night, Sora," she said, noticing he was paying attention to what was going on. Kairi turned and started out of the gym.

Riku watched her retreating back, and looked over at Sora.

Sora raised an eyebrow.

"You are no help!" Riku said, exasperated.

"Go after her, you DUMBASS." Sora demanded, shoving Riku roughly. "How's that for help?"

Riku turned and ran out of the gym.

Yuffie watched as Tidus counted out one thousand dollars to her. "This is probably inappropriate but, where'd you get all this money?" Yuffie asked.

Tidus handed her the last hundred. "Got it from my parents," Tidus said, shrugging. Everyone that was standing around him sort of just looked at him. There were quite a few loaded kids in their school, take Riku for example. Riku played the rich boy pretty well, though, and Tidus never let on the amount of money he apparently had.

"What, did your parents invent sticky notes?" Roxas asked sarcastically.

Tidus sighed and put his hands in his pockets as if it were a burden to have to tell him. "My parents own 'Stiff-Oh'," he muttered.

"What?" Yuffie asked, leaning forward.

"My parents invented 'Stiff-Oh'! You know! Get your stiff on with Stiff-Oh! Can't get it up in the morning, try Stiff-Oh! Stay rock hard all day with Stiff-Oh hairspray!" Tidus practically shouted, clearly annoyed and embarrassed.

There was a silence in the room before Sora broke it with a huge grin and a shout. "Dude! I LOVE Stiff-Oh! It's like, so awesome!" He pat his gravity defying spikes lovingly.

"Is that the stuff we have in our bathroom?" Roxas asked, touching his own hair. He didn't really know, he just used whatever Sora kept around.

"It makes my hair stand straight up, but it stays so soft!" Some random student yelled.

"I know! I love the volumizing shampoo and conditioner! It smells so good!" another guy called out.

Axel shrugged. "I totally use it."

Tidus rubbed his nose, a little embarrassed. "Glad you guys appreciate the family business," he muttered. He grinned at Roxas and Sora. "I'll see you guys at my house tomorrow, at 10am."

Roxas and Sora watched Tidus exit the gym with the proud gait of a guy who actually was too cool for school.

Namine came to stand beside Yuffie as Axel finished paying her. She had no problems wrapping her arms around his neck in a grateful hug. "Thank you soooooo much."

Axel returned her hug and picked her up, lifting her off the stage and setting her gently on the ground. "Of course. Like I'm gonna let some creepo pervert guy get his hands on you for a day." Not only would Roxas kill him, but he felt inclined to look out for her. After all, once in a while they both still felt like people who were just not quite normal yet.

"Going home," Sora told Roxas shortly, walking out of the gym. Roxas followed him wordlessly, seeing as how Sora had the keys and the car. They would ride all the way home in silence, and go into their separate rooms once they got there, Roxas slamming his door, Sora shutting his quietly and falling onto his bed.

* * *

Riku chased Kairi out of the gym and caught up to her just as she was about to get in her car. "Kairi, stop."

She pulled her arm out of his grasp. "What, Riku?" she asked, sounding impatient.

Riku held his hands up defensively. He wanted to ask if he had done something wrong, but he knew that Kairi was a girl, and girls always expected you to know what you had done wrong. "I was kidding, okay? You know you don't have to win me in a stupid auction to spend the day with me."

Kairi didn't look at him. "Really, oh okay then. When can I pencil you in? Between your date with Slutty McHookerface, or your girlfriend in Atlantica, or can you squeeze me in sometime after you've finished your ego-trip?" She knew she was being a little unreasonable right now, but she was tired of this. Helping him pick out clothes for his dates, discussing places to take girls to, talking to him on the phone afterwards as he ranted about how crappy it was.

Riku sighed, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a close hug. "You're being silly, worse than Sora and that's saying something."

Kairi couldn't help chuckling, holding onto Riku tightly. She lay her head on his chest lightly, and could feel it rise and fall as he inhaled and exhaled. "I belong to Tifa tomorrow but, Sunday is all yours," he promised her, tucking her dark red hair behind her ear. She looked up at him quizzically. "However many days it takes," he added. "That is, until Sora gets grumpy that his best friend is too busy."

Kairi lifted her head and looked up at him. "Psh, Sora has Roxas."

Riku sighed. "They're fighting, I think." He didn't blame either of them. They were both hard to deal with in their own ways.

Kairi rolled her eyes. Boys will be boys. Sora and Roxas would get over themselves eventually, and if not, then they knew a few people who were willing to force them to for their own good. Kairi heard Axel and Namine's voices, and turned her head to see them approaching the car.

"Sunday, alright?" Kairi said, looking up at Riku again.

Riku nodded, leaning down and barely kissing her on the forehead. He let go of her as Namine reached the car. She shared a knowing look with Axel.

"You know what you wanna do," Axel said suggestively towards Riku.

Riku half-smiled, pulling his keys out of his pocket. He clicked the unlock button and the lights on his car over just a few stalls flashed. "Yeah, yeah. I'll give you a ride home."


	19. Spiral Staircase

Tidus woke up early, at 8am on Saturday. He shuffled downstairs into his kitchen, and pulled a bottle of orange juice out of his fridge. Tidus sat down in one of the stools at the island in the middle of the huge, metallic kitchen. His father, President and owner of 'Stiff-Oh!' walked past, lifting his keys off the small rack near the fridge.

"Good morning, son. Your Mother and I will be gone at the conference all weekend," he informed Tidus. "What're your plans for today?"

Tidus grinned at his bottle of juice. "Today, I'm going to sadistically manipulate people, thus making their lives more happy and the world a better place."

His father patted him on the shoulder. "That's my boy."

* * *

Sora leaned out of his car at Tidus' front gate, and pushed the button. "Hey, its us!" he called, and the gate started to roll back to let his car in. Roxas was half asleep in the passenger seat. He'd gone to wake up Sora that morning, only to find his room empty and Sora already up and eating breakfast. He had been highly disappointed to have to disrupt his morning routine, not to mention that the two hadn't spoken a word to each other all morning.

Sora parked his car in front of Tidus' garage and climbed out, waiting for Roxas to exit so that he could lock the car and shove his keys in his pocket. The two boys approached the front door of Tidus' house almost cautiously. Roxas was staring up at its huge size, two floors above ground at least, and spread wide, way bigger than Riku's house.

Sora rang the doorbell and they waited. Tidus could be heard shouting from the balcony of his room up one floor to their left. They looked up and saw him waving at them. "Good morning! Door's unlocked, just come on in," he instructed, and Roxas tried the handle. Sure enough, it swung open. He shrugged at Sora and they both went in, immediately removing their shoes in the entryway.

"Hey! Where are you, Tidus?!" Sora called, wondering why he hadn't bothered to come meet them.

Tidus' voice came from the small intercom on the wall in the entryway. "So, this is what I've got to work with today? Guys, can I see some smiles on those cute faces, at least?"

Sora lifted an eyebrow and looked at the intercom. "What're you doing?" he asked. "Where are you at, anyway?"

"Is he talking through that box?" Roxas asked, peering at it a little. He didn't understand the concept quite yet, but it wasn't too horribly weird, so he'd go with it. "And how does he know we're not smiling?"

"Oh, Sora. I'm sure that you'd like to know. Unfortunately, that would be a luxury and seeing as how I've given all the hired help the day off, I'm afraid you're going to have to earn that luxury." There was a pause in which Roxas and Sora looked at each other, trying to get what Tidus meant. "Oh, and Roxas? See that mirror behind you? Look up at the top and wave!"

Roxas turned around. He didn't see anything but his reflection in a regular hallway mirror. He lifted his hand and waved at it awkwardly. "I don't get it," he whispered at Sora.

"He probably has a security camera up there or something," Sora said, shrugging. "Tidus, you are so nerdy. What are we supposed to be doing?"

Tidus, in his undisclosed location, spun around in his desk chair. "Well, the house needs cleaning, so why don't you guys go on down the hall to the right and find the maid's room? The door should be unlocked."

"Uhhh…right," Sora said, starting down the hall. It looked as if Tidus wanted them to clean his house, which wouldn't be so bad, if it wasn't a two story mansion. When Sora noticed that Roxas wasn't following him, he stopped. Naturally, he would've just retraced his steps down the hall, grabbed Roxas' hand, and dragged him off. However, this time he thought about it. "Come on," he urged, turning and continuing down the hall.

The two boys turned the corner and followed the hall, checking the rooms along the way until they found what looked like the maids room. It was fairly large, with shelves along the perimeter, stocked with various supplies. Sora entered the room and Roxas let the door shut behind him as they both surveyed the area.

"So uh, what are we supposed to be doing in here?" Sora asked, picking up a duster.

"Good question!" Tidus' voice came from an intercom situated between a couple of vacuums. "Look at that table there, those will be your uniforms."

Both Sora and Roxas' eyes wandered over to a brown table where two maid uniforms were neatly laid out. Roxas flipped at the frilly skirt. "You put out the girl ones on accident," he said.

There was a chuckling from the speaker.

"Tidus, seriously," Sora said, picking one of the dresses up and letting the apron fall off of it. "Where's the guys uniforms?"

They both waited for a response, and Roxas walked over to the door and jiggled the handle when they got none. "Its locked," he told Sora, looking at the ceiling and sighing. He supposed this is what he got by signing himself up for something stupid like a person auction. Roxas just hadn't known Tidus was going to be such a sadist, or that houses could be so high tech.

Roxas looked over at Sora after a minute, who was standing there shirtless and currently unbuckling his belt. "What are you doing?!" he demanded, looking around the room. "Did it not occur to you that this is the stupidest thing in the entire world?!"

Sora didn't even look at him as he started unbuttoning his pants. "Did it occur to you that you agreed to this? Geeze Roxas, maybe you should THINK more before you just DO stuff," he said, almost bitterly.

Roxas glared at him. "Fine!" he proceeded to angrily strip down to his underwear, and picked up the maid dress, putting it on clumsily.

"Its on backwards," Tidus' voice came over the intercom and it made them both jump. "Haven't you ever seen a dress before, Roxas?"

Roxas look around the room and backed up, directly into Sora. "Tidus, you pervert! Is there a camera in here, too?"

Tidus only laughed.

"I think its safe to assume the entire house is bugged," Sora said pushing Roxas away and finishing tying his apron. He really did look silly in it. Sora hopped up on the table and sat there, watching Roxas zip up his uniform. He tried very hard to remember he was still mad at him, but Roxas looked so cute trying to put his apron on, he had to look away to not crack a grin.

"You mean there are bugs everywhere?" Roxas looked around on the floor and wondered why such a nice mansion would have an infestation problem. "What kind? Like cockroaches?"

Sora stared at him for a second before laughing. "No! Bugged like he has cameras and speakers everywhere!"

Roxas pouted, not favoring being treated like he was dumb, and marched over to the door to leave.

Tidus sipped on a glass of sprite as he pushed a button to unlock the door to the maids room. It really was a shame that the two of them liked each other so much, and Tidus himself could have neither one. Roxas, all cute and flustered in his maid's outfit, and Sora, unable to hold back a small smile. Tidus shook his head and sat back in his chair, reminding himself he was doing such a good thing today that karma would bless him in the end.

"Boys, the day is only beginning. To start off, I'd like you head over to the stairs where you'll start your first project for me," Tidus instructed, and the two walked silently out of the room and down the hall. They were confronted with the spiral staircase that dominated the center of the house. There were a variety of plants, standing on tall columns and suspended from the ceiling, that circled the staircase. "It's kind of like a jungle!" Sora said, almost excitedly. He looked over at Roxas, who looked away, refusing to share in his enthusiasm.

Sora frowned. "Tidus! What are we doing?" he asked nowhere in particular. It was clear that by now Tidus had no plans of showing himself to them.

"At the end of the hall, there is a bathroom. There are some paper cups on the counter there. Use them to water the plants," he instructed. Roxas had already disappeared and came walking down the hall, holding a tiny cup full of water. They both looked at the cup, then at the spiral staircase at what must have been at least twenty large plants flanking the staircase as it wound upwards.

"You've got to be kidding me. Tidus, you asshole," Roxas muttered, gritting his teeth. He dumped the entire cup into a plant he was standing next to and it barely wet the soil.

They both went back to the bathroom to get new cups of water, and headed back to the staircase. Sora dumped his in one of the plants and laughed. In fact, he laughed practically every time he 'watered' one of the plants. He sort of found it amusing, not really minding the fact that they had to walk from the staircase down the hall to the bathroom, back to the staircase, up the staircase, dump the water in, back down the staircase. Not to mention it took at least five cups of water to water one plant.

Halfway through, Roxas turned to Sora. "Would you stop? How can you think this is funny?" he asked, clearly annoyed.

Sora shrugged. "I'm just trying to make the best of the situation," he said, starting back down the stairs.

Roxas followed him, irritated. He crushed the little cup in his hand. "I still don't see how you can laugh about how he's making us do this stupid shit for no reason." Why did nothing irritate Sora, ever?

Sora filled up his little cup, having a brilliant plan and filling up two that he could take at the same time. Roxas copied his idea and they were on their way back to the staircase in a few seconds. Sora stopped halfway up the stairs and turned towards Roxas. "I think you take things too seriously."

Roxas just stared at him. He did NOT take things too seriously! "I do not! You just always think everything is fun and games."

Sora rolled his eyes. "And you can't do anything spontaneous. I bet you don't even have impulses," he challenged.

"I do too," Roxas argued.

"Do not," Sora replied.

Roxas reached out and knocked one of the cups violently from Sora's hand, and it flew over the banister of the stairs, splashing water everywhere. "Do too."

Sora smirked, lifting his hand and dumping his other cup on Roxas' head.

Roxas frowned fiercely and threw both his cups over the banister. He stooped down and picked Sora up over his shoulder with a little wobble, carrying him down the stairs and back to the bathroom. Roxas turned the sink on full blast and put Sora down, forcing his head under the sink. "How's that for spontaneous?!"

Sora flailed as he was doused with freezing cold water, and tried to get his head back up, though Roxas was holding it down. "Say 'uncle'," Roxas demanded.

"No!" Sora gargled stubbornly, through water rushing into his mouth.

"Say it, Sora!" Roxas demanded again, attempting to push his head further into the sink.

"FINE! UNCLE!" Sora yelled, and Roxas let him up, sputtering. He watched Sora moodily stomp off down the hall, water dripping from his hair and onto his shoulders. Roxas was satisfied for a second, but Sora glared back at him looking slightly like a drowned cat, and Roxas grabbed the towel from the rack and chased after him.

"Come back," he said, catching Sora's arm as he tried to storm away again, and plopped the towel on his head, rubbing gently. "You were asking for it," he said, lifting the towel enough to see at least one of Sora's eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. You're just a jerk," Sora muttered, pouting in the way that meant he wasn't really mad. Roxas continued to dry his hair for him, and used the corner of the towel to carefully pat his face dry. "All better now?" Roxas asked, rubbing a little water off his cheek.

Sora smiled a little, and Roxas was thrilled to see his smile directed at him again. "All better," he repeated. They stood there for a moment just staring at each other, sort of relieved that it seemed like maybe they wouldn't be fighting forever, until there was a distinct clearing of a throat from nearby.

"Okay, you two. Break it up. The plants have been quenched. And since you seem to have such a desire for water activities right now, I'd like you guys to head over to the pool next."

* * *


	20. The Ladybug

"What time is it?" Roxas asked, as himself and Sora wandered around downstairs, following Tidus' voice to the pool.

Sora checked his watch. "About noon," he said, pushing open the door that led to the pool. The two of them stood just inside, taking stock of the large room of glass and cement. The rectangular pool dominated the center of the room, with a diving board at the far end. A projection screen hung from the ceiling on the right side of the pool, and Sora and Roxas could see benches inside the water to sit on while a show was enjoyed on the screen. It made sense, Tidus not only being rich but on the blitz ball team, to have such a commodity in his own house.

Roxas folded his arms across his chest. "Great, then. Only ten more hours of torture," he remarked sarcastically.

"Isn't it cool? Now that everyone knows about Stiff-Oh anyway, I should throw a pool party, huh?" Tidus' voice echoed loudly in the glass room.

"That would be way cool!" Sora said excitedly. Roxas just rolled his eyes. He had to say, though, he really admired Sora's patience with people.

"So, there's a bathroom in the far left corner. If you go inside, you'll find a laundry chute to put your uniforms in, and there should be something laid out for you that's more suitable for cleaning the pool."

"Ew…cleaning the pool?" Sora said, without thinking. He looked into the water as they walked by. Actually, it didn't look that dirty. Still, he'd never cleaned a pool before so he figured it could be ew.

"Oh, suck it up, Sora. We'll probably get to swim?" Roxas patted him heartily on the back, pushing him into the bathroom. It was an interesting affair, with one stall and one sink. The other half of the room was made entirely of tile and appeared to have showerheads that protruded from the ceiling and walls.

"Laundry chute," Roxas informed Sora, lifting up the little door and peering inside. It went directly into what looked like the maid's room on the other side of the wall. Roxas fumbled to untie his apron. "I'm glad to get out of this stupid thing. Thank goodness no one had to see us in them."

"Aww, but it was just so cute on you. You do frills very well," Sora teased, untying his apron and taking it off.

Roxas tried to frown at him, but it didn't really work. Instead he just wadded up the apron and threw it at him. "Oh shut up," was all he managed to say, and Sora just chuckled.

Once the two boys were standing around in their underwear, they took a look around the bathroom. "So uh…where are these swim trunks or whatever?" Sora asked, opening the door to the toilet and looking in, for good measure.

Roxas spotted two towels laid out on a bench. He approached them and picked up one of the two black garments on top. "And I thought Axel was a pervert," he said, holding the spandex item out to Sora. "It looks like girls panties for men to swim in."

Sora took the black speedo from him. "Wow. You're right. I don't…really want to wear it." He almost added 'especially in front of you', but instead just started turning a little red.

Roxas made a face, wondering if all his…assets would even fit inside the thing. He pulled at it and stretched it. "Me either," he decided, looking around. "Well I doubt he has a camera in here, since that's probably somehow illegal. He's not gonna know if we don't put it on."

Sora rolled his eyes. "He'll know as soon as we go out there, then he'll lock us inside the pool until we do it. Not to mention," he pointed at the laundry chute, "any other clothes we had are in there now."

Roxas stretched the underwear thing angrily. The last thing he wanted, or needed, was for things to once again get awkward with Sora, when they had seemed to be slowly going back to normal. He heard Sora sigh and looked over at him. He was trying to figure out which of the sides was the front, and Roxas watched his hand go slowly to the waistband of his boxers, where he slid his fingers inside and started pushing them down.

Sora looked up from the sorry excuse for a bathing suit for a second, and saw Roxas' eyes fixated on his nearly exposed hip. "Well, aren't you going to put it on?! Geeze!" he turned his back on Roxas, trying to avoid blushing to his ears.

Roxas turned his back on Sora. "Sorry! Geeze…it's not…that big of a deal. I mean…aren't we practically brothers or something?" They did live in the same house and all.

Sora let his undergarment fall to the floor and stepped out of it, clumsily pulling on the speedo. "Gross! Don't say that. We are NOT brothers." It was slightly uncomfortable, the speedo. Sora had to adjust himself a few times before it felt okay.

Roxas sort of stood there for a second, trying to decipher what that meant. He felt way overly exposed in the thing, mostly in the way of his legs and ass. He turned around slowly and stared at Sora's back, forcing his eyes to his back and not his bottom. "I thought…brothers were like, really close, and wanted to look out for each other, and lived together, and were similar in appearance. I don't really see how that's gross." Roxas had never had siblings before, he didn't really know what it was supposed to be like, brothers and sisters. He still had a hard time separating how he felt about certain people over other people.

Sora turned around and took Roxas' arm, pulling him out of the bathroom. "Well, that stuff isn't gross but…its kind of hard to explain. You don't feel the same way about a brother as you do about…not a brother." He could see where this was going and although it wasn't such a bad idea, he just wondered how to tactfully go there.

"I love Riku," Sora stated, and Roxas appeared to look really confused. "I love Kairi, too. But, that's because Kairi and Riku are like my brother and sister. I love them the same way I love my Mom. Not like the way I told you about before."

"The heart beating fast way?" Roxas recalled their short conversation in line for the roller coaster.

Sora nodded. "The heart beating fast, funny stomach twinge, can't stop staring, want to kiss them and hold them, intense sexual tension, want to touch every part of their body, wish you could sleep next to them every night and wake up tangled up in them every morning, want to give them everything they want and make them happy…"

Roxas interrupted him "Sora?"

Sora sort of laughed. "Sorry, I rambled. You get it?" He let go of Roxas' arm.

Roxas stopped Sora just outside the bathroom, running over the things that Sora had said in his mind, recalling a few of them as familiar, things he'd said himself before. He'd learned that it wasn't necessarily a good idea to take literally, or over analyze things that Sora tried to teach him, because the way his brain worked was different than all other humans in society. Roxas was starting to learn how Sora's brain worked, though. "You know…I think I'm starting to. I…" he looked down at himself and Sora, turning away quickly. "Don't want to have this conversation while we're both dressed in…uh…NOT dressed…half naked. Let's clean the pool?"

"GREAT idea, guys! You like the suits I picked out? Pretty hott, huh?" The two speedo-clad boys looked up at the projection screen to see Tidus relaxing on a lounge chair, lemonaid in hand.

They gaped. "How the…what the…where the hell even are you?" Roxas asked, checking around the room. Sora walked to the other side of the pool and looked behind the screen. He shrugged. Tidus wasn't actually in the room at all.

"Cleaning closet is behind you, Roxas," Tidus informed him, taking a sip of his drink. There was even a little umbrella in it. Roxas turned around and opened the closet, only to be confronted with a bunch of stuff that he didn't understand. Large jugs of crap and hoses and poles and nets. Roxas pulled one of the poles off the walls with a net on the end and inspected it. He turned around to see Sora with his head cocked to the side, staring at the projection. "I don't get it! How is he on a tropical beach? We just saw him on the balcony!"

Roxas sort of half smiled. "Sora! Get over here!"

"Kay!" Sora said, coming over to where Roxas was. "Look, here's the instructions. Get the ladybug and turn it on, and put it in the pool. The switch is on the side blah blah blah…what's the ladybug?" They looked down at a robotic little thing that had the appearance of a vacuum disguised as a ladybug. The two boys spent the next few minutes trying to figure out how to turn it on, then pushing it in the pool. It crawled along the walls and floor, cleaning the ick and sucking it into the ladybug, through the hose and back into the room it had been housed in. Sora crouched at the edge of the pool watching the ladybug crawl around. Roxas stood at the edge watching Sora. He was amused by the tiniest things.

"You gonna go in?" Roxas asked, and Sora looked up at him. After several moments, Sora continued to look up at him, with a sort of loopy half smile like he'd seen a very large cake he really wanted and was now daydreaming about it.

Roxas looked up at Tidus, who was busy reading a comic book. He was perfectly capable of giving them a little privacy now and again. "Can I push him in?"

Tidus looked up from his comic book. "Oh, yeah. Have some fun. You can be in the pool with the cleaner, it'll shut off when its done. Takes like a half hour at least."

Roxas started to approach Sora, who appeared to begin coming to his senses. "Huh? Oh, hey, what's going on? Rox-" but Roxas put one bare foot on his back and pushed, sending Sora toppling into the pool.

"You should come swim with us," Roxas suggested, partially because it would be fun and partially because he wanted to wring Tidus' neck. Tidus shrugged and got up from his chair. "Ah, no. I've got a few things to do," he grinned and the screen went black.

Sora broke the surface of the water, grinning. "Tidus said we can just hang out for a while," Roxas told him, coming around to the side of the pool where the stairs were. He looked down at the water and finally walked in, stopping when it reached his chest. After a moment, he paddled around a bit. Alright, swimming was totally easy. He'd never been, but he didn't figure it was hard. You just stayed above the water.

"This is kind of nice. See? Tidus wasn't being totally evil after all," Sora pointed out, swimming around lazily. Roxas watched him float by. After a while of sloshing around in the pool, Roxas pulled himself out and sat on the side. Sora paddled over to where he was, noting that the ladybug was still going. "Hey…what's that?" he asked, pointing to a door with a small glass window in it. He pulled himself out of the pool and padded over there, Roxas getting up to follow.

Sora opened the door with ease. The room smelled of Eucalyptus and had cement flooring, with two tiers of wooden benches attached to the walls. There was a pitcher of water sitting on one of the benches and a pedestal with rocks on it in the middle of the room. "I think it's a sauna," Sora said, inspecting the dials on the outside of the door.

"A what?" Roxas asked, not understanding at all what the room was for. Sora turned one of the dials and pushed Roxas inside. It was dim, and Roxas sat down on one of the benches tentatively. Sora shut the door and sat down across from him. They simply waited.

"Does it do anything?" Roxas asked, thinking this was probably something like Sora's lava lamp that he'd need to wait patiently for.

"It heats up and when it starts feeling too dry, you pour water on the rocks," Sora explained. "Don't worry, I turned the temperature really low."

"Right," Roxas said, not feeling assured.

"I heard its good for your skin?" Sora shrugged a little. There was a knock at the door and they both looked over to see a familiar blonde waving at them through the window.

"It's Tidus!" Sora said, going over to the door. He heard a click and looked down, trying the door handle. "Oh no…" he said, pulling on it.

"Why oh no?" Roxas asked, coming to join him at the door. Sora strained to look out. "He locked us in!"

"WHAT?!" Roxas asked, batting Sora's hand away and pulling on the handle. "That bastard!"

Tidus waved again and pointed up. Sora didn't really get it, so he pointed up again and waved his hand in front of his face like a fan.

Sora banged on the door. "Shit, he's turning the temperature up," he said frantically.

Roxas' mouth gaped. Sora never swore, so this must be bad. "Is he trying to kill us?!" He proceeded to bang on the door with Sora, only to watch Tidus give them a thumbs up and walk away.


	21. Tension

When the two boys realized that Tidus really wasn't coming back, they sat down on the wooden benches. Roxas leaned back on his hands and looked up at the ceiling. "Well…good for your skin, right?"

"Right," Sora answered quietly. Roxas glanced over at him and he was perched at the very edge of the bottom bench, knees pressed together firmly, hands placed in his lap. Sora's fingers fidgeted just a tiny bit, and he looked down at them as they did so.

Roxas sat up, not okay with the uneasy look on Sora's face. He got up and padded over to where Sora was sitting. "What's up?"

Sora looked up and was faced with Roxas' stomach. It was a nice stomach, too. Especially since it was connected to his chest. Sora was immediately distracted. Roxas waved in front of Sora's face. "Seriously, are you gonna be okay?" He sat down next to Sora cautiously.

"I uh…" Sora said, scooting away a little. "We're you worried?"

Roxas laughed, picking a spot on the bench and lying down. The temperature was rising and exerting extra strength to sit up was only going to make it worse. "C'mon, Sora. With you, I'm always worried. You, know, in case you walk into a wall, open your big mouth and get yourself in trouble, drive your car off a cliff-"

Sora poked Roxas in the stomach and he flinched. "I do not drive THAT bad."

Roxas grabbed Sora's hand. "So you admit you drive bad!" They both laughed, and Roxas yanked.

Sora came crashing down atop him, and an immediate silence was induced. Roxas didn't mind the weight of Sora on top of him, and he tried not to shift seeing as how they were both wearing hardly anything. He let out his breath slowly. "How uh…how high do you think Tidus turned it up?" Roxas asked.

Sora's eyes swept across Roxas' body and he lifted himself off of Roxas very slowly, their skin practically adhesive from perspiration. Instead of backing up, Sora shifted his knees forward until he was perched above Roxas, one hand on either side of his head. "Tidus, he doesn't know so, probably pretty hot," Sora commented, licking his dry lips.

Roxas was starting to grow a bit nervous, with Sora hovering over him like that. Did he just lick his lips?

"Doesn't know what?" Roxas asked, in almost a whisper.

Sora tried to breath deeply, but the air was dry. His body felt heavy and his arms weren't going to support him for much longer. Sora leaned down a little, shrugging. He put his hand on Roxas' forehead, pushing his bangs up. "You're hot," he took his hand away. "I mean, it's hot. In here it's…" Stupid, babbling.

"You avoided the question," Roxas pointed out, feeling the heat radiate off of Sora's skin, they were so close. He was sure if they touched it would be searing.

Sora leaned down far enough to whisper in Roxas' ear, letting his lips brush against it. "He doesn't know that when it gets too hot, I get a little light headed and uh…you know," Sora squeezed his shoulder. Roxas didn't know, but boy did he want to. "Burning desires and all…I just can't keep them under control."

Roxas felt his breath catch a little, and he half smiled. "Geeze, Sora. If I would've known, I would've turned the temperature in the house up to at least eighty five," he was joking, of course. Mostly.

When there was no response from Sora but the slight slump of his body, Roxas moved underneath him. "Sora?"

Sora groaned a little. "Passing out. Tidus didn't know…" Sora muttered, and Roxas suddenly felt not only guilty, but slightly panicked.

"Sora, hang on okay?" Roxas said, using the little bit of energy he had to lift Sora off of him. Sora slouched against the bench like a rag doll, rolling his eyes a little.

The water pitcher was sitting very obvious on the other side of the room. As soon as Roxas was sure that Sora wasn't going to topple, he went over and picked up the pitcher, dousing the rocks. They sizzled and hissed, filling the room with much needed moisture. Roxas brought the pitcher back over to Sora. "I know its warm but, some water is better than none."

Sora nodded a little and Roxas steadied his hand as he drank out of it. "Bleh," he said, making a face afterwards. Sora leaned back against the bench and pushed his sweat soaked bangs out of the way. "Sorry. Stupid, right? We live on a tropical island!" He obviously though of this as some sort of weakness.

"Have you always been like this?" Roxas asked.

Sora nodded. "Since I was little. Mom used to get mad if I played out in the sun too long, cause I'd pass out and Riku would have to carry me home."

Roxas took Sora's hand, even though it was slippery with sweat. He squeezed it reassuringly. "Well you've got me now. Tidus won't leave us in here forever."

They were quiet for a moment, Roxas making sure that Sora was just breathing and staying conscious. "So, stupid question on an earlier topic," Roxas began, pouring water on the rocks again and not looking at Sora. "What exactly is this…sexual tension supposed to be like?"

Sora smirked. "About five minutes ago, that's what," he said, hearing a definitive 'click'. Sora stood up with a little wobble. "Doors unlocked. Lets get out of this oven."

Roxas shot to his feet to help Sora, opening the door for them. "Tidus!" he called out into the empty pool area.

Tidus came by the camera with an apple half in his mouth. "Huh?" He noticed Sora was stumbling a little. "Dang Roxas, I never knew you had it in you. You shouldn't work him so hard your first time."

Sora gaped at him and Roxas turned red. "When I FIND you, I'll kill you."

Tidus chuckled, and Roxas noticed he was sitting down in a desk chair. There was a desk and a computer behind him. Was he in an office of some sort? "Your clothes are in the bathroom, and lunch is served courtesy of my good graces, in the kitchen. See you in an hour," the screen went black.

* * *

Roxas drank the last of his glass of water, sitting back in his chair and gazing around the formal dining room. The two had found their clothing laid out in the bathroom, and after a quick shower in which neither spoke to each other or looked at each other, they had found two plates of lunch laid out for them on kitchen counter. It had the clear markings of being teenager made, but the two were completely grateful for it. They had picked it up and carried it into the next room. Tidus knew exactly how to torture them, but be just nice enough to eradicate the strong desire to kill him.

"So after this, you want to go try to find him?" Roxas asked, placing his cup and napkin back on his plate.

Sora propped his chin up on his hand. "The house is massive. You got any ideas?"

"Well…he was in a desk chair and stuff. I think he's in some kind of office." Roxas provided.

"So we'll snoop around for an office," Sora decided. He picked up his plate and started back into the kitchen, placing it in the sink. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to wash it or anything, but Tidus hadn't said so, and so he didn't.

"Was this here before?" Roxas asked, picking up what looked like a card key on a black lanyard. It had been sitting on the island in the middle of the kitchen where their lunches had been laid out.

"I'm so thrilled that you two are such good observers," Tidus voice came through the intercom on the refrigerator. "And I heard about your planned adventure, and decided I would help you a little. So while you were eating lunch, I placed a few things here and there for you to find me. I think I'll be taking a nap. Happy hunting!" There was a small fizzling noise as his voice died away.

Roxas put the thing around his neck, as not to lose it. Sora took his hand and pulled him out of the kitchen and through the formal dining room, back to the entryway. "Best place to start, the beginning. What do we know? The spiral staircase is in the middle of the house. The kitchen, dining room, maids room, pool, and garage are to our right."

Roxas nodded. "That bathroom is to the left. But there are a few other rooms down there. We should go check them out." It sounded like a brilliant plan to him, so they started off down the hall to the left.

The first door on their left yielded a parlor like room, with plush seats and a grand piano, ready for entertaining. It wasn't an office, that was for sure. On the right next to the bathroom, there was a quaint little guest bedroom. "Oh, lets take a nap, then!" Sora replied, lying down on the bed.

Roxas smiled at him and pulled him up off the bed. "Not right now, its more important to kick Tidus in the face."

Sora whined a little. "He gets to take a nap and not me!?" He followed Roxas across the hall and opened the door.

"Office," Roxas announced, gesturing around the room.

"Right," Sora replied, going over and opening the topmost desk drawer. It contained some files, some office supplies, and a letter opener. "Well, desk chair, computer, but no Tidus."

Roxas leaned against the doorframe. "Guess we'll go look for another office, then."

"Yeah," Sora agreed, lifting up the calendar on the desk and letting it fall back down. "One with a bigger desk," he added, slipping past Roxas and standing out in the hall. Roxas followed him.

"Bigger desk? What for?" He asked. He didn't see why this would matter.

Sora stopped and turned around, taking hold of the keycard around Roxas' neck. He gently pulled on it and Roxas was forced to lean close to him. "Sexual tension," he reminded him. "Bend over."

"Wha-!" Roxas asked in disbelief, until Sora moved aside and ran the card through a swiping device located on the side of a door.

"Bingo!" Sora said, letting go and pushing down on the handle to let them in the door. He grinned to himself. Sora was slowly building his confidence for what he knew he had to do. One step at a time.


	22. Elevator Up

The two boys stepped into an extremely large room. It had seemed strange to have a door in your own house that required a key card, but now that they were on the other side of that door, they could see why. It was metallic inside, and what wasn't metallic was white.

"Very sci-fi," Sora commented on the laboratory spread out to his right.

"What have they got something like this in their house for?" Roxas asked. Tidus' family were secretly mad scientists?

Sora patted Roxas' head. "They invented Stiff-Oh, remember? They've got to have somewhere to make and test their products. So make," he pointed to the large area that must have taken up half of the back of the house, "and test." There was a small salon tucked into the corner.

Wandering into the Salon, one of the mirrors caught Roxas' attention. There were red letters written all over it. Sora came up behind him, swiping at the letter 'O'. He stuck his finger in his mouth and made a face. "Its written in lipstick."

Roxas raised an eyebrow at him. "How do you know that? You been kissing a lot of girls lately?"

Sora tucked his hands in his pockets. "No, I used to eat it when I was really little. I thought it was candy." He shrugged.

Roxas sighed and turned back to the message. "Get back to work? What's that supposed to mean?"

Sora shrugged. "Where do you work at?"

"In an office? But we already looked around in there."

"Didn't look hard enough, I guess. Come on!" Sora pulled Roxas out of the lab and back across the hall. It was sort of exciting, following clues and all. Once they were back in the office, the two started checking out everything. Roxas opened all of the drawers in the desk. Sora looked a wardrobe in the corner up and down, before popping it open. "Woah! Come look!" He beckoned Roxas over.

Once the door was opened wider, Roxas peered inside. "It's an elevator! Now that is cool."

"After you," Sora said, motioning towards the inside of the wardrobe. Sora climbed in afterwards and hopped onto the elevator. Trust Tidus to have a secret elevator in his house. The two watched the doors close.

Roxas inspected the buttons inside. "So…should we go up or down? There's only three floors."

Sora thought about it for a moment. "Why would Tidus have us come find a secret elevator if he was upstairs? We could have walked up the staircase and found him on our own. So this means-"

"He's downstairs. So we'll push-" Roxas' pointing finger was interrupted by a jerk of the elevator, as it begun to rise. He sighed a little. "Never mind then, not our choice I guess."

The two waited for the elevator to stop, and waited additionally for the doors to open. When they didn't open, Sora leaned over and pushed the open button. Absolutely nothing happened, and though Sora was pretty sure that it wouldn't do any good, he pushed all of the buttons just in case. He turned to Roxas and shrugged. "Stuck."

Roxas sighed and leaned against the wall of the elevator, but the safety bar was uncomfortable. Instead, he opted to sit down on the lightly carpeted floor.

Sora remained standing. "What do you think we're supposed to be doing in here?" he asked, looking around. "You think Tidus can hear us?"

Roxas leaned back against the wall, and there was a cheerful bing from the elevator, as if it were answering Sora's question. "Probably."

"Tidus is downstairs, isn't he?" Sora asked, looking up at the ceiling that was covered in mirrors. The elevator binged again. "But we're two floors up." Bing.

There was silence between the two, in which Sora shuffled his feet a bit and Roxas pulled at a string on the bottom of his pants. "So…" Sora started to say, and there was a bing from the elevator. The whole thing jerked and Sora stumbled, almost falling over. "Okay, I get it! Sitting down now!" he said, sitting down on the floor cautiously.

Roxas chuckled a little at Tidus' ability to control the situation. He really was something, that kid. "I think uh…I think he wants us to…talk." Roxas said slowly, remembering Namine's advice from last night. Well, it was someplace private, and really, neither of them could leave even if they wanted to. It was a pretty perfect setup for a confrontation. The elevator binged its approval.

"Okay, let's talk then. How are you adjusting?" Sora launched the conversation right away. Roxas never thought of Sora as much of a conversationalist, he usually saved those long insightful ones for Axel. Apparently he was ready for it today.

"Okay," Roxas replied. "Pretty good. There's a lot of things that I've already gotten used to, even. Uh, worry. Jealousy. Anger. Irritation. Frustration, frustration a lot actually. Nervousness." Roxas stopped thinking for a second to look over at Sora, who seemed to be frowning. "What?"

"Where are all the happy emotions? If all you've been learning is negative emotions then…" He drew his feet up to his chest. "Guess I'm not doing a very good job."

"No! No, Sora. You're doing a great job. I don't know at all, I mean I have no idea what I'd do without you," he scooted closer to Sora. Roxas reached over and lifted Sora's arm off his leg. "I'd be really, really lost without you." He slid his hand down Sora's arm until he found his fingers and tangled his own in them.

Sora turned his head to the side, avoiding looking at Roxas for fear he'd blush. "It's funny you should say that. I kinda thought that…you know. I'm kind of confusing to deal with. Not the best teacher."

Roxas shook his head, then paused. He reached over and took Sora's chin in his hand lightly, turning his avoidant face towards him. "Well, actually. You are kind of confusing, but…you're honest. And those happy emotions? Fun and contentment, being comfortable, and being warm, laughing. You make me feel those. Those most of anyone."

Sora smiled winningly at him, relieved. "I do? I'm so glad." He placed his hand over Roxas' that was resting on his cheek.

Roxas swallowed a little. "About earlier, at the theater. I'm really sorry I just…you probably don't mean to but I think that you might be teaching me what love feels like, too. Maybe…"

Sora sighed a little, turning his eyes away. "The brother kind, right?" Life was so unfair.

Roxas could see his disappointment, but he smiled a little, ducking his head to bring Sora's gaze back to him. "Maybe not the brother kind, Sora."

Sora gaped a little, slightly flustered at the sudden information, but at the same time thrilled to no end. "S-so. If uh, if it's the not brother kind, then it would be okay if I…" Sora took a deep breath, to prevent himself from stuttering so badly. "If I can't help liking you."

Roxas opened his mouth to say something, but there was a bing from the elevator and a tiny jerk. The doors hummed a little and slid open heavily. Soft music filled the elevator, emitted from the room that it opened into.

Sora, completely compelled and fascinated, got to his feet and pulled Roxas along with him, and the two cautiously stepped out of the elevator. The room was quite dim, the overhead lights were almost out. It looked like a large and fancy version of a teenager's bedroom. "Is this Tidus' room?" Sora asked softly.

Roxas let go of his hand to look around a bit. He moved over to the door to find it locked. Roxas tried the other door that appeared to lead to a bathroom, and found it locked as well. The shades were drawn on all the windows, even the sliding glass door to the balcony. The soft piano music was coming from the surround sound speakers mounted in various corners of the room. Roxas stopped by Tidus' bed, noting that the room was spotlessly clean, and the bed was meticulously made, despite the fact that Tidus had given the maids the day off. Roxas sat down gingerly on the bed with a smirk. Everything was sort of coming to light. Buying them both, forcing them to have fun and work together, locking them practically naked in the sauna to up the tension, then stranding them in the elevator until one or both confessed.

"What a conniving sneak," Sora said, and Roxas looked up at his backside framed by the fireplace that was set in the wall. You could see through the glass that it went through to the bathroom. The flames flickered calmly across the walls and lit up the room with a warm and inviting atmosphere. "Suddenly, I don't want to kill him so badly now, though." Sora turned around with a very soft smile on his face. He started over to where Roxas was sitting, who scooted back on the bed, on instinct again, as he approached.

"What are you thinking?" Roxas asked, as Sora's knee hit the bed between his legs. Sora put his hand on Roxas' shoulder.

Roxas was about to repeat his question when he felt Sora's hand travel from his shoulder to his face, tilting it upwards. Roxas briefly wondered if Sora had listened to Tidus' lecture on kissing, too. He also only briefly wondered why it was Sora now that was leaning down towards him, brushing his bangs aside. Then again…Sora had been the one from the beginning that had taught him nearly everything. Maybe, just like everything else that seemed to happen between them, it was natural for Sora to teach him this, too.

Roxas' eyes were fixated on the firelight in Sora's as they moved closer. He tried to force himself to continue to look into them but his own eyelids drooped, almost triggered by Sora's breath tickling his lips. "Breathe," Sora whispered, his nose brushing lightly against Roxas' as he tilted his head. Roxas hadn't even noticed that he was holding his breath, and he opened his mouth slightly to facilitate a few short breaths before Sora cut off his air intake.

There was a brief pause, and all Roxas felt was Sora's lips, warm and slightly damp, pressed ever so lightly against his own. Before he could start to wonder what happened next, Sora's head tilted more and he moved, slowly. Roxas responded, fitting their lips together in a perfect, rythmatic movement. The room around them was gone and the music was mute in his ears, replaced with a sensual overload of the sweet taste of Sora in his mouth.

It was too short for something that they both felt they'd waited so long for when Sora pulled away, letting his forehead fall onto Roxas' shoulder. Roxas could feel him breathing into his neck. His arm went around Sora's waist and he started to stand up, taking Sora with him. Sora wrapped his arms around Roxas' neck, and the two stood there in a tight embrace for a little while, until Roxas noticed the lights coming up.

The elevator binged and they both looked over at it. It seemed to be beckoning them inside. Sora took Roxas' arm and led him into it, pushing the button with a 'B' marked on it.

The elevator opened to a large basement, and the two followed a short hallway that ended in what looked like a studio of sorts. They spotted Tidus behind a large window, and opened the door to the sound booth.

"You made it," he said, rising from his chair.

"What's all this?" Roxas asked, looking around at the equipment and spotting a large, bright green area with a lawn chair set in the middle.

"Stiff-Oh films all of its commercials down here," Tidus explained.

"We ought to kill you," Sora reminded him.

Tidus just grinned. "But you won't. Aw, come on guys, do it again. It was too cute."

Sora turned red and Roxas frowned. "Were you watching?"

Tidus put his arm around both of them. "Yeah, and I'm really horrendously jealous. But as a reward for finally, FINALLY getting your lips on each other, I'm treating you to ice cream."

"Ice cream!" Sora said excitedly, as Tidus ushered them into the elevator.

Roxas rolled his eyes, waiting until Sora rushed out of the elevator as soon as it stopped. He caught Tidus' arm. "Tidus?"

"Hm?" Tidus asked.

"Thanks." There really was no reason for Tidus to do all this.

Tidus pushed Roxas ahead of him. "You're welcome, loverboy. Even though you wasted all I taught you and let Sora do the work." Before Roxas could protest, Tidus went on. "But don't worry, you'll top eventually."

Roxas stared at him as he walked out of the office, shaking his head, not bothering to fight the grin or blush on his face.

* * *

**A/N: **This is the last chapter that I had written prior to starting the upload of this story. (No, I'm not actually magical enough to update new stuff every single day, sorry!) So you'll have to wait a few days between chapters from now on. But do not fear. 'Adjusting' is not finished by a long shot, seeing as how Riku especially is still currently an idiot and has yet to get a clue. Also, this story IS rated 'M' for more than the occasional expletive. All my love and happy reading! 


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